Within 36 hours of this posting, December 4 at 7:03AM EDT, NASA will take the first meaningful step leading to the first manned missions beyond Low Earth Orbit since the final flight to the Moon in 1972.
The Orion Spacecraft, America’s new generation spacecraft stands ready on Pad 37 at Cape Canaveral awaiting launch on a Delta 4 Heavy launch vehicle. It was from this same launch complex that the original Saturn 1 launches took place in the mid 1960’s lofting Apollo Boilerplate Command Modules to Low Earth Orbit in the first flight tests of the Apollo Spacecraft, now, 48 years later, we are, from the same facility, returning to deep space exploration. This time, to stay. Orion will take Americans, back to the Moon and to destinations beyond … firstly to an asteroid and ultimately a manned exploration of Mars.
In the most anticipated flight test in a generation, Orion will, during a 4 hour 2.5 orbit flight, be boosted to an altitude of 5,800KM before a 32,000 KM/H re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere in a dramatic test of the spacecraft and heatshield that will sustain American astronauts as they travel to destinations beyond the confines of Low Earth Orbit.
As NASA takes this major step towards the future of space exploration, Orbital Projects plans to provide updates via the website and via ABC Radio around Australia.
Join us Dec 3 at 9PM AEDT on 936 ABC Hobart for a flight preview with updates continuing through the night via the website as the countdown and flight progresses.
Further radio coverage times will be posted on the Homepage as they are confirmed.
For live video coverage of the launch take the NASA Television link on our Other Links Page.