When NASA is ready to post humans to Mars , it will do so using the Orion spacecraft , launched via a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket . An unmanned trial flight is scheduled for Thursday , December 4 at 7:05 am Eastern Standard Time from Kennedy Space Center in Florida .
The Orion spacecraft , built by Lockheed Martin , will finish a 4.5 time of day - longsighted test flight at an EL of 5,800 kilometers ( 3,600 mile ) , which is about 15 times the distance to the International Space Station . The heat shell will be tested , and the cabin will be sate with a rooms of sensors to measure conditions inside the space vehicle . Orion willre - enroll Earth ’s atmosphereat speeds of 32,190 klick / h ( 20,000 mph ) , before deploying 11 parachutes and slosh down in the Pacific Ocean . This is faster than any spacecraft has re - entered since the Apollo missions .
In addition to the technical panorama of the test escape , the spacecraft will alsocarry itemsmeant to generate public interest in the Orion foreign mission , as well as interest in space travelling and stanch in ecumenical . item include a chip with over 1 million names submitted to NASA , poem , euphony recordings , and more . Orion will also be carrying iconic props from Sesame Street , for instigate children . These detail admit Ernie ’s rubber ducky , Super Grover ’s cape , Slimey the Worm , and Cookie Monster ’s chocolate chip cooky .
pack up the Sesame Street items that will vanish on Orion . photograph credit : NASA
As of the time of this writing ( Monday morning ) , there is a 60 % chance that the launch will be a ‘ Go ’ during the 2 hour and 39 hour windowpane . Though there is no precipitation currently expected on Thursday , that could change as the week goes on . Additionally , the launch could be scrubbed if tip speeds get too in high spirits . Because the spacecraft is go to be retrieve by the US Navy , NASA needs to ensure that conditions are favorable over in the Pacific as well .
Manned commission on Orion will take place after 2020 . It will complete a few manned missions to asteroid before heading for its premier target : Mars . A amount of four cosmonaut will be seated in the space vehicle during these missions .
The launching will be preceded by two press conferences : one on Tuesday at 1 postmortem EST , and another on Wednesday at 11 am EST . Coverage for the 7:05 am launch on Thursday will begin at 4:30 am EST . All of the events can beviewed on NASA TVor you may watch out right here :
Broadcast dwell streaming video on Ustream
