Photos: Delta 4-Heavy with Orion on eve of launch

Watch NASA’s Orion inflight abort test post-launch news briefing, held at the Kennedy Space Center two hours after the test.

NASA’s first space-worthy Orion capsule blasted off atop a Delta 4-Heavy booster rocket for a two-orbit, four-hour shakedown cruise in orbit. Liftoff occurred at 7:05 a.m. EST (1205 GMT), with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 11:29 a.m. EST (1629 GMT).