NASA's Orion spacecraft, atop a Delta 4-Heavy rocket, lifts off on its first unmanned orbital test flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday, December 5. NASA hopes Orion will usher in a new era: eventual human exploration of deep space.
Orion -- NASA's next giant leap —
NASA's Orion spacecraft, atop a Delta 4-Heavy rocket, lifts off on its first unmanned orbital test flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday, December 5. NASA hopes Orion will usher in a new era: eventual human exploration of deep space.
Chris O'Meara/AP
Orion sits on top of a Delta IV Heavy rocket on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, 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.
Orion -- NASA's next giant leap —
Orion sits on top of a Delta IV Heavy rocket on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, 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
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.
Orion -- NASA's next giant leap —
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
Workers finish wrapping Orion in protective panels for its first flight. The panels protect the crew module from sound and vibration during launch.
Orion -- NASA's next giant leap —
Workers finish wrapping Orion in protective panels for its first flight. The panels protect the crew module from sound and vibration during launch.
NASA
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 -- NASA's next giant leap —
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.
NASA
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 -- NASA's next giant leap —
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.
NASA
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 -- NASA's next giant leap —
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.
NASA
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 -- NASA's next giant leap —
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.
NASA
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 —
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.
NASA