The first orbital test flight of NASA’s Orion crew capsule will lift off on top of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 37B launch pad. The rocket will send the unmanned crew module 3,600 miles above Earth — 15 times higher than the International Space Station’s orbit — then drive the capsule back into the atmosphere at 20,000 mph to simulate a re-entry at near lunar return velocity.
Orion’s software, avionics, separation systems, and heat shield are among the systems to be tested on the EFT-1 mission. The 16-foot-diameter capsule will encounter temperatures up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit during re-entry before parachuting into the Pacific Ocean for recovery by a U.S. Navy vessel.
T-0:00:07 Main engine start
T-0:00:00 Liftoff!
T+0:03:56 Separation of port and starboard Common Booster Cores
T+0:05:33 Separation of center Common Booster Core
Mike Sarafin, NASA’s lead Orion flight director, narrates animation depicting the Exploration Flight Test 1 from liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
The United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifts off with NASA’s Orion spacecraft on its inaugural space flight test at 7:05 a.m. EST Dec. 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Complex 37.