![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/orion-eft-1-2-launch-dec-5-2014-201412050003hq.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>At 7:05 a.m. EST on Dec. 5, 2014, the three-core first stage of the Delta-IV Heavy rocket ignited, lifting the Orion spacecraft off from Launch Complex 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force, now Space Force, Station (CCAFS) in Florida to begin the EFT-1 mission. Three minutes and fifty-eight seconds after liftoff, the two side boosters separated as the center core continued firing for another 93 seconds. The second stage ignited thirteen seconds after separation to begin the first of three planned burns. During the first burn, the Service Module\u2019s protective fairing separated, followed by the Launch Abort System. Lasting about 11 and a half minutes, this first burn of the second stage placed the spacecraft into a preliminary 115-by-552-mile parking orbit. While completing one revolution around the Earth, controllers in Mission Control at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, led by Flight Director Michael L. Sarafin, verified the functioning of the spacecraft\u2019s systems. The second stage ignited a second time, firing for 4 minutes and 42 seconds to raise Orion\u2019s apogee or high point above the Earth to 3,600 miles. During the coast to apogee, Orion remained attached to the second stage and completed its first crossing through the inner Van Allen radiation belt.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/figure>Three hours and five minutes after launch, Orion reached its apogee and began its descent back toward Earth, separating from the second stage about 18 minutes later. The second stage conducted a one-minute disposal burn to ensure it didn\u2019t interfere with the spacecraft\u2019s trajectory. During the passage back through the Van Allen belt, Orion fired its thrusters for 10 seconds to adjust its course for reentry. At an altitude of 400,000 feet, the spacecraft encountered the first tendrils of the Earth\u2019s atmosphere at a point called Entry Interface, traveling at 20,000 miles per hour (mph). A buildup of ionized gases caused by the reentry heating resulted in a communications blackout with Orion for about two and a half minutes. The spacecraft experienced maximum heating of about 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, proving the worthiness of the heat shield. After release of Orion\u2019s forward bay cover, two drogue parachutes deployed to slow and stabilize the spacecraft. Next followed deployment of the three main parachutes that slowed the spacecraft to 20 mph. Splashdown occurred 4 hours and 24 minutes after launch about 600 miles southwest of San Diego, California. A video of the Orion EFT-1 mission can be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Standing by to recover the Orion capsule, U.S. Navy Divers assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 and Fleet Combat Camera Pacific and crew members from amphibious transport dock U.S.S. Anchorage (LPD-23) stepped into action, first placing a flotation collar around the spacecraft. After securing a tow line to the capsule, the sailors towed it aboard the amphibious well deck of Anchorage, <\/em>which set sail for Naval Base San Diego arriving there on Dec 8. Engineers from NASA and Lockheed Martin conducted a preliminary inspection of the spacecraft during the cruise to San Diego and found that it survived its trip into space in excellent condition.<\/p>\n The Orion EFT-1 mission met all its objectives and received many accolades. \u201cToday was a great day for America,\u201d said Flight Director Sarafin from his console at Mission Control. \u201cIt is hard to have a better day than today,\u201d said Mark S. Geyer, Orion program manager. \u201cWe\u2019re already working on the next capsule,\u201d said W. Michael \u201cMike\u201d Hawes, Lockheed Martin\u2019s Orion program manager, adding, \u201cWe\u2019ll learn a tremendous amount from what we did today.\u201d NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William H. Gerstenmaier praised all personnel involved with the EFT-1 mission, \u201cWhat a tremendous team effort.\u201d NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden summarized his thoughts about the mission, \u201cToday\u2019s flight test of Orion is a huge step for NASA and a really critical part of our work to pioneer deep space.\u201d<\/p>\n After its arrival at Naval Base San Diego, workers placed the Orion capsule aboard a truck that delivered it to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Dec. 18. After engineers conducted a thorough inspection of the spacecraft at KSC, workers trucked it to the Lockheed Martin facility in Littleton, Colorado, where it arrived on Sept. 1, 2015. Engineers completed final inspections and decontamination of the vehicle. The KSC Visitor Complex has the capsule on display.<\/p>\n The next time an Orion spacecraft flew in space during the Artemis I<\/a> mission, the Space Launch System<\/a> (SLS) carried it into orbit after launch from KSC\u2019s Launch Complex 39B. The thunderous night launch took place on Nov. 16, 2022. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I provided a foundation for human deep space exploration\u00a0and demonstrated our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. The uncrewed Orion spacecraft spent 25.5 days in space, including 6 days in a\u00a0retrograde orbit\u00a0around the\u00a0Moon, concluding with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11, exactly 50 years after the Apollo 17 Moon landing<\/a>.<\/p>\n On April 3, 2023, NASA named the four-person crew for the Artemis II<\/a> mission, the first flight to take humans beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17<\/a> in December 1972. The crew includes NASA astronauts G. Reid Wiseman<\/a> as commander, Victor J. Glover<\/a> as pilot, and Christina H. Koch<\/a> as a mission specialist as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy R. Hansen<\/a> as the other mission specialist. The four will take an Orion spacecraft on a 10-day journey around the Moon to human rate the spacecraft and SLS.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Interested in learning more about the Artemis Program? Go to https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/humans-in-space\/artemis\/<\/a><\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a> A new American human-rated spacecraft made its first foray into space on Dec. 5, 2014. Under contract to NASA, Lockheed Martin builds Orion as the vehicle to take American astronauts back to the Moon and eventually beyond. Orion\u2019s overall shape harkens back to the Apollo Command and Service Modules, but using today\u2019s technology is a [\u2026] Continue reading <\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure>
\nHeather Kinney <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"