Photos: Orion launches at dawn

The mobile service tower is retracted from the Delta 4-Heavy rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Flight Test 1.

NASA astronaut Rex Walheim says the Orion EFT-1 test flight represents the opening of a new era for the space agency.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told a Senate panel Wednesday that a budget impasse and subsequent spending freeze later this year would be “devastating” to the agency’s goal of sending the first woman and next man to the moon by the end of 2024.