We reported yesterday that NASA had a few problems launching its Orion space craft on its maiden flight, but not so today.
We have liftoff:
A beautiful shot of NASA's successful #OrionLaunch http://t.co/SKABhsx8sr pic.twitter.com/fFrq9WEAYx
— Mashable (@mashable) December 5, 2014
NBC reports on the importance Orion’s flight today:
NASA and its commercial partners are designing Orion to take astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid in the 2020s, and to Mars and its moons in the 2030s. For that reason, NASA portrays Friday’s 4.5-hour test flight as a first step toward deep-space exploration. The mission is known as Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1.
More great photos of the launch:
Live #Orion coverage. Reply with your launch photos and we'll add them to our blog here: http://t.co/Io6VXIXEEB pic.twitter.com/cgycq9U1B5
— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) December 5, 2014
#Orion launched at 7:05am ET/12:05 UTC. Orion will orbit Earth twice, reaching a peak altitude of 3,600 miles. pic.twitter.com/6Vqcab9SnT
— NASA (@NASA) December 5, 2014
The moment #Orion lifts off for brief flight to test critical technologies http://t.co/kci9YMsqM1 pic.twitter.com/l91dG6Uv3v
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) December 5, 2014
LIFTOFF! #Orion launches in Florida! pic.twitter.com/8h0Yw5YOsl
— KSDK News (@ksdknews) December 5, 2014
Recommended
Here’s video:
WATCH! NASA just launched first unmanned test mission of new Orion spacecraft! #OrionLaunch http://t.co/CoTt8CXd3l pic.twitter.com/nX3bc0YBJb
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) December 5, 2014
Orion is currently in orbit and is scheduled to return to Earth later this morning:
#Orion is in its preliminary orbit! The Delta IV Heavy second stage provides its attitude control & propulsion.
— NASA (@NASA) December 5, 2014
NASA launches the #Orion spacecraft. A photo of Earth taken from Orion: http://t.co/d1ToHLu1bl pic.twitter.com/3dB12UWF5v
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 5, 2014
And we have lift off! @NASA’s new Orion spacecraft heads into space. http://t.co/1FSnGZlXA4 #OrionLaunch pic.twitter.com/Q8upDeQOMm
— CNN International (@cnni) December 5, 2014
And Tweeter are pretty excited at NASA’s success today:
So happy to see this. I grew up seeing a robust space program, and I WANT MY ROCKETS AND HOPE OF SPACE SHIPS BACK! #OrionLaunch
— KeepCalmAndDrawl (@FormerlyFormer) December 5, 2014
Go #Orion. A huge step toward taking humans farther than they've ever gone before! pic.twitter.com/bAXqAJQ8nZ
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) December 5, 2014
Stunning launch. Absolutely stunning #EFT1 #Orion
— Catherine Q. (@CatherineQ) December 5, 2014
i hope you were with us!! it was one of the most exciting moments of television… in YEARS! #OrionLaunch
— Sam Champion (@SamChampion) December 5, 2014
Got 1 shot and it's AWESOME! I'm so emotional right now. @NASA_Orion #ImOnBoard #ilovespace #AlwaysExploring pic.twitter.com/ZUjcSNSnuk
— Maria LaRosa☀️ (@TheMariaLaRosa) December 5, 2014
Now, let’s hope for a successful splashdown as well.
Related:
Tweeters help troubleshoot the Orion rocket launch: ‘Have you tried turning it off and on again?’
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