The launch initially was set for 7:05 a.m. ET, but was delayed more than once, in part because a boat came too close to the launch area, and later because of a wind gust, NASA said.
Mission managers hope to launch the craft before the day's window closes at 9:44 a.m. ET.
"We haven't had this feeling in awhile, since the end of the shuttle program," Mike Sarafin, Orion flight director at Johnson Space Center, said in a preflight briefing on Wednesday. He said it's the beginning of something new: exploring deep space.
NASA's newest spaceship, Orion, sits on top of a Delta IV Heavy rocket on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on December 3, waiting for its first test flight. Orion is designed to take humans to an asteroid and on to Mars, but its first flight will not carry a crew.
NASA's first completed Orion crew module sits atop its service module at Kennedy Space Center before being wrapped in protective panels and stacked on a Delta IV Heavy rocket for its first test flight.
NASA's first completed Orion crew module sits atop its service module at Kennedy Space Center before being wrapped in protective panels and stacked on a Delta IV Heavy rocket for its first test flight.
Workers finish wrapping Orion in protective panels for its first flight. The panels protect the crew module from sound and vibration during launch.
Workers finish wrapping Orion in protective panels for its first flight. The panels protect the crew module from sound and vibration during launch.
Workers check Orion after its last major assembly operations are completed -- the installation of protective panels around the spacecraft just below the Launch Abort System tower.
Workers check Orion after its last major assembly operations are completed -- the installation of protective panels around the spacecraft just below the Launch Abort System tower.
Orion is wheeled past the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on November 11, 2014, on its way to Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Orion is wheeled past the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on November 11, 2014, on its way to Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Orion is mated with a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, the rocket that will carry it into space on its first test flight.
Orion is mated with a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, the rocket that will carry it into space on its first test flight.
Orion sits on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral after being stacked on the rocket. Orion will take crews farther from Earth than any spacecraft since Apollo.
Orion sits on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral after being stacked on the rocket. Orion will take crews farther from Earth than any spacecraft since Apollo.
Orion will be the first U.S. spacecraft since the Apollo-era to splash down in the ocean. In this photo, crew members on the USNS Salvor pull a test version of the spacecraft out of the ocean using a crane.
Orion will be the first U.S. spacecraft since the Apollo-era to splash down in the ocean. In this photo, crew members on the USNS Salvor pull a test version of the spacecraft out of the ocean using a crane.
Orion -- NASA's next giant leap
HIDE CAPTION
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Orion -- NASA's next giant leap
Orion looks like a throwback to the Apollo era, but it is roomier and designed to go far beyond the moon: to an asteroid and eventually to Mars
No comments:
Post a Comment