AP and CNN reported that at 7am on the 5th of December, NASA reported that they had finally succeeded in launching the Orion which is America's next generation manned spacecraft that will be replacing the space shuttle. The Orion was launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in a Delta IV launch vehicle.
Less than 5 minutes after launch, the spacecraft detached itself from the launch vehicle and flew into Earth orbit. Since this was the Orion's virgin flight, no astronauts were on board. Right after the success of the launch, a NASA scientist stated that this was the first step to mankind's voyage to man.
The Orion capsule will fly for around 4 hours while it circles the Earth twice around its orbit. Then, the capsule will be returning to the earth, scheduled to land in western Mexico, 600 miles from the shores of Baja California. The Orion travelled at 32,000 miles an hour, and is scheduled to reach an altitude of 3,600 miles off the Earth's surface in orbit. During this unmanned mission, NASA will be making use of over 1,200 sensors installed within the capsule to evaluate the spacecraft, before it is ready to transport human lives to the International Space Station and beyond.
According to NASA, the Orion will be able to carry 4 to 6 astronauts on a mission as long as 21 days. Unlike the shuttle, the Orion's design is based off the tear drop shape like that of the Apollo spacecraft of the 1960s and 70s. By 2018, NASA hopes to develop a new launch vehicle to put the Orion into orbit, to replace Lockheed Martin's Delta IV rocket.
The Orion, NASA's new manned space vehicle will take over the Space Shuttle in transporting crew and supplies to the International Space Station. However, Orion's ultimate goal will be to take astronauts to the future Mars exploration spacecraft for man's first mission to Mars, which is scheduled to be built in Earth's orbit by 2030.
Meanwhile, NASA announced that the Orion will be taking astronauts to Earth's orbit in 2020 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
