New US Spacecraft 'Orion' Launched into Space

The new US spacecraft known as 'Orion' was launched into space on Friday, December 14, from NASA's base in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This first flight of the spacecraft is a significant step towards missions that could transport humans to the depths of space, including Mars, in the coming years. According to AFP, this unmanned spacecraft was launched at 7:05 AM US time (12:05 PM GMT) by its carrier rocket. With the launch of this rocket, cheers erupted at Kennedy Space Center. On Thursday, 27,000 people had gathered around the spaceport to watch the launch of this capsule, but the flight was postponed to Friday due to adverse weather conditions. Mark Geyer, the Orion project manager, stated, 'The flight was spectacular; the rocket performed well.' This mission is the first step in a four-decade NASA program to send humans to the Moon and other locations in space. NASA has stated that the launch of Orion has revitalized the space exploration program, which had been stagnant for three decades since the last crewed spacecraft was launched to the International Space Station. That thirty-year program ended in 2011, and NASA has been using Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to transport its astronauts to the ISS, paying $71 million for each astronaut. During this four-and-a-half-hour journey, the efficiency of the modern equipment on this new spacecraft, including the heat shield and water landing gear, will be tested. AFP adds that the spacecraft smoothly entered one of Earth's orbital rings and is orbiting the Earth at an altitude equal to that of the International Space Station, which is located 430 kilometers above the Earth. During the flight's halfway point, the second stage rocket motor was detached from the capsule as planned. At this stage of the flight, the Orion spacecraft reached a higher altitude than any crewed spacecraft since 1972, even surpassing Apollo 17. Three hours after launch, at 10:05 AM US time (3:11 PM GMT), the spacecraft reached its farthest distance from Earth, which is 4,800 kilometers. NASA expert Pab Navias stated that after the technical team separated the spacecraft from its service module, 'Orion is flying freely for the first time in its history.' NASA experts will evaluate the performance of the heat shield and the conditions for the survival of the crew by examining data from the spacecraft's advanced thermometers. As the spacecraft re-enters the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 32,000 kilometers per hour, the external temperature of the capsule will reach 2,200 degrees Celsius. Future potential missions for Orion are designed for four astronauts and include trips to an asteroid and Mars by 2030. NASA has spent $9.1 billion on the Orion spacecraft and its powerful rocket so far. Another unmanned flight is scheduled for 2018, and the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft is planned for 2021. The budget for this project is projected to reach between $19 billion and $22 billion by the time it reaches that stage.