NASA spacecraft prepares for test flight

By Park Sae-jin Posted : December 10, 2014, 16:24 Updated : December 10, 2014, 16:24

 

NASA's Orion spacecraft, designed to one day take astronauts to Mars, debuts this week with a test flight and two laps around Earth.
Thursday's test flight will be unmanned and last just four-and-a-half hours.

But it will be the farthest a built-for-humans capsule has flown since the Apollo moon missions.

It will shoot 5,800 kilometers out into space in order to gain enough momentum to re-enter the atmosphere at a scorching 20,000 mph (32,000 kph).

A Delta IV rocket will hoist Orion from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Lift-off is scheduled for 7:05 a.m. on Thursday (local time), just after sunrise.

The rocket, with Orion and its launch escape tower at the tip, stretches 83 meters high.

If all goes well, the flight will end with a splash in the Pacific, off Mexico's Baja coast, and Navy ships will recover the capsule for future use.

By Ruchi Singh
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