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VideoVideo: Orion EFT-1 test flight ends with a splashdown in the Pacific
The splashdown of Orion in the Pacific Ocean concludes the EFT-1 shakedown cruise for NASA's new space capsule.
VideoVideo: Onboard camera captures Orion capsule return to Earth
A camera mounted aboard the Orion capsule for the EFT-1 test flight records the space capsules plunge toward the Pacific Ocean and its splashdown beneath three parachutes.
Delta 4-Heavy blasts off with Orion capsule
NASA's inaugural Orion spaceship has set sail on a two-orbit, four-hour shakedown cruise around the Earth, leaving port atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket and its incandescent power at 7:05 a.m. EST on Dec. 5.
VideoVideo: Delta 4-Heavy tower rollback
The mobile service tower is retracted from the Delta 4-Heavy rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Flight Test 1.
VideoJohn Grunsfeld speaks about Orion’s science goals
John Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, speaks about the EFT-1 test flight and science opportunities made possible by the Orion capsule and its Space Launch System rocket.
Photos: Gantry rolled back to reveal Orion
The 330-foot tall mobile service tower has been retracted from the Delta 4-Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral's pad 37B for tomorrow morning's launch that will place the Orion spacecraft on its intended trajectory.
Orion Exploration Flight Test No. 1 timeline
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.
ESA member states commit funding for Orion service module
As a barebones Orion spacecraft awaits its first launch from Cape Canaveral, representatives of European governments agreed to fund the development of a power and propulsion element to take the crew capsule on voyages around the moon, to an asteroid, and eventually to Mars.
VideoNASA astronaut Rex Walheim excited about Orion test flight
NASA astronaut Rex Walheim says the Orion EFT-1 test flight represents the opening of a new era for the space agency.
Preview: Orion spacecraft poised for critical test flight
NASA is gearing up for a milestone unmanned test flight Thursday, the first launch of the agency's Orion deep space exploration spacecraft intended to one day carry astronauts on missions beyond low-Earth orbit to the vicinity of the moon, one or more nearby asteroids and, eventually, Mars.