| A Delta IV heavy rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 7:05 a.m. EST carrying NASA's Orion spacecraft on an unpiloted flight test to Earth orbit. The two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission will evaluate the systems critical to crew safety, the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage (LPD 23) will recover the Orion crew module after it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean using a Navy welldeck recovery method. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of NASA/Released) |
