NASA Administrator speaks about Orion test flight

Bill Shepherd, a former Navy SEAL-turned astronaut who arrived at the International Space Station 20 years ago Monday to begin the continuous occupancy of the orbiting research outpost, says the experience gained by NASA and its global partners over the last two decades provides a blueprint for missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

Members of the news media — reporters and photographers — witnessed the United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off from the ITL Causeway on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, about 1.7 miles from the pad.

An 11-hour practice countdown was completed Friday at Cape Canaveral’s launch complex 41 for the planned launch of an Atlas 5 rocket and Boeing’s Starliner capsule later this month. The rocket was loaded with super-cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in a full dress rehearsal for launch day.