Live Launch of Orion Spacecraft

**kellyhound** · #1 ● 12-04-2014, 07:08 AM

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is built to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before.

Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.

On December 4, 2014, Orion will launch atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex Flight Test on the Orion Flight Test: a two-orbit, four-hour flight that will test many of the systems most critical to safety.

The Orion Flight Test will evaluate launch and high speed re-entry systems such as avionics, attitude control, parachutes and the heat shield.

In the future, Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System. More powerful than any rocket ever built, SLS will be capable of sending humans to deep space destinations such as an asteroid and eventually Mars.

Exploration Mission-1 will be the first mission to integrate Orion and the Space Launch System.

Launch, live coverage. click link below.
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasat...l#.VIBHdNKG9A1

Update: 4Dec2014 8:42:53 EST
Still 64 minutes left in the launch window.
With 64 minutes left in the launch window the countdown must restart in the next 60 minutes to make the launch window. If the hold extends 61 minutes then there will not be time to launch before the window closes and an automatic scrub will be called.

4Dec2014 8:33:21 EST
Anomaly team investigating valve issue
The fuel fill/drain valve did not indicate that it was closed when the fuel tanks were secured. This has been seen on the Delta IV rockets before. The anomaly team recommend five open and close cycles of the valves prior to clearing the alert.

4Dec2014 8:24:18 EST
HOLD, HOLD, HOLD
The countdown has been stopped by an unexpected HOLD called by the launch team. A fuel valve cause the hold this time.

NASA targeting second attempt to launch Orion at 7:05 a.m. Friday. Weather and technical problems scrubbed the first attempt Thursday morning.