Launch one small step toward Mars
NASA hails Orion capsule’s ‘ nearly flawless’ flight as beginning of new era
WASHINGTON — NASA entered a new era of space exploration on Friday when its Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after going farther from the planet than any spacecraft built for humans in more than 40 years.
The maiden test flight — made without astronauts aboard — is a step toward eventually getting astronauts to deep space: first to help snag an asteroid, and then, NASA hopes, to Mars. Orion lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7: 05 a. m., a day after gusty wind and problems with several valves forced officials to cancel the mission.
But on Friday, the 4.5- hour mission appeared to go off flawlessly.
Orion orbited the Earth twice, shot up to an altitude of about 5,800 kilometres above the Earth. That was farther than any spacecraft designed for humans had gone since the Apollo 17 moon mission in 1972.
It splashed into the Pacific Ocean at 11: 29 a. m.
The successful test flight was cheered by ebullient officials from NASA and its partners in the mission: prime contractor Lockheed Martin, which built Orion, and United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed and Boeing, which built the Delta IV Heavy rocket that launched Orion into orbit.
Moments after liftoff, NASA spokesman Mike Curie said it marked “the dawn of Orion and the new era of American space exploration.”
In the post- flight news conference, Mark Geyer, NASA’s Orion program manager, said: “It’s hard to have a better day than today.” And he described the Orion and the Delta IV as “nearly flawless.”
The images of Earth seen from such a great distance, he said, “reminded us here we are again now — the United States leading exploration out into the solar system.”
Since 1972, human flights have been restricted to the orbit level of the International Space Station. But Friday’s flight went 15 times as far.
NASA plans another test flight without astronauts in 2018. A crew is scheduled for 2021.
Sometime in the 2020s, NASA plans to capture an asteroid with a robotic spacecraft, then drag it to the moon’s orbit where it would connect with the Orion. Astronauts would then be able to take samples
Just the idea of having a human around the moon interacting with an asteroid — that’s mind boggling. We are very confident we can do this. CHARLIE BOLDEN NASA ADMINISTRATOR
from the asteroid.
“Just the idea of having a human around the moon interacting with an asteroid — that’s mind boggling,” NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said Friday. “We are very confident we can do this.”
The big target, however, remains Mars, which NASA says astronauts could reach sometime in the 2030s..
Mike Hawes, Lockheed’s Orion program manager, said the data collected from the mission will be “enormously helpful,” as officials prepare for future flights.
“We’ve now finally done something for the first time for our generation,” he said. “It’s a good day.”