Today's flight and splashdown of NASA's first Orion spacecraft paves the way for future human exploration beyond low orbit powered by ESA's European Service Module.

Orion is NASA's new spacecraft built to carry humans and designed for journeys to destinations never before visited by astronauts, including an asteroid and Mars.

Liftoff on a Delta IV Heavy rocket took place at 12:05 GMT from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, and splashdown in the Pacific about 966 km off the coast of Baja California occurred two orbits and some 4.5 hours later.

Liftoff came after the original launch planned for 4 December was postponed due to wind and technical problems with the booster.

During today's Exploration Flight Test-1, Orion tested systems critical for crew safety, such as the parachutes, avionics and attitude control, and demonstrated major events such as jettisoning the launch abort system and separating the service module fairing.

ESA to provide critical components Future Orion spacecraft will be equipped with a European Service Module, the first time that Europe has provided a system-critical element for a US crewed vehicle.

For today's flight, Orion used only an engineering structural model - ESA's full service module is scheduled for the next uncrewed test.

"Today's successful flight of Orion is a significant step towards future human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and eventually Mars," said Thomas Reiter, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations.

"ESA congratulates NASA for this outstanding achievement and we are proud to participate in this exploration endeavour through the development of a critical element of the Orion vehicle."

The service module will be the powerhouse that fuels and propels the Orion spacecraft in space. It will provide essential functions such as propulsion, power, thermal control and life-support consumables storage and distribution.

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Orion test sets stage for ESA service module

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) NASAs newest space vehicle, Orion, accomplished its first test flight with precision and pizazz Friday, shooting more than 3,600 miles out from Earth for a hyperfast, hot return not seen since the Apollo moon shots.

For a space agency still feeling the loss of its shuttles, the four-hour voyage opened a new era of human space exploration, with Mars as the plum. It even brought some rocket engineers to tears.

Theres your new spacecraft, America, Mission Controls Rob Navias said as the unmanned Orion capsule came in for a Pacific splashdown after two orbits of Earth.

NASA is counting on future Orions to carry astronauts out into the solar system, to Mars and beyond.

The next Orion flight, also unmanned, is four years off, and crewed flights at least seven years away given present budget constraints. But the Orion team spread across the country and out in the ocean, is hoping Fridays triumphant splashdown will pick up the momentum.

We challenged our best and brightest to continue to lead in space, lead flight director Mike Sarafin said with emotion as he signed off from Mission Control in Houston. While this was an unmanned mission, we were all on board Orion.

W. Michael Hawes, a former NASA official who now leads the Orion program for prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp., choked up as he recalled the pre-shuttle days.

We started with all the Apollo guys still there. So weve kind of now finally done something for the first time for our generation, he said, pausing for composure. Its a good thing.

Orion splashed down 270 miles off Mexicos Baja peninsula, just a mile from the projected spot a bulls-eye according to NASA. Navy ships quickly moved in to transport the crew module 600 miles to San Diego, where it was expected Monday. From there, it will be loaded onto a truck and returned to Cape Canaveral just in time for Christmas.

Preliminary test reports were encouraging: Not only did the capsule arrive intact, all eight parachutes deployed and onboard computers withstood the intense radiation of the Van Allen belts surrounding Earth. Whats more, everything meant to jettison away did so as Orion soared into space.

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NASA space vehicle has successful test flight

NASA #39;s Orion Space Launch: Success! FULL VERSION
After yesterdays scrubbed launch, today on December 5, 2014 we had a perfect successful launch of Orion #39;s first space flight! Source: http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv http://www.nasa.gov/...

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NASA's Orion Space Launch: Success! FULL VERSION - Video

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. With Orion's perfect Experimental Flight Test-1 on Friday, NASA took the first step toward sending humans into deep space and delivered the U.S. another "Apollo moment."

It has been almost 42 years to the day since a human-rated spacecraft has traveled outside of low Earth orbit. Apollo 17, which put men on the moon for the last time, launched Dec. 7, 1972.

"We, as a species, are meant to push human presence in the solar system," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration. "And this is the first step in starting to do that."

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., early Friday. On a "picture-perfect day," the Colorado-built spacecraft hurtled into space, orbited Earth twice and splashed down four hours later in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)

Every Florida road with a view of the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station had cars lining the shoulder Friday morning as Orion, America's next-generation deep-space capsule, lifted off with a roar, carried to space on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket.

Orion's 4-hour, 24-minute journey included two passes of Earth one at an altitude of 552 miles and another at 3,604 miles. The craft twice passed through the Van Allen Radiation Belts, which can wreak havoc on the spacecraft's systems.

Orion splashed down at 9:29 a.m. Mountain time, about 630 miles southwest of San Diego. The craft bobbed in the Pacific for about an hour while data was collected. Navy divers then recovered the capsule for transport back to San Diego aboard the U.S.S. Anchorage.

The launch, flight and recovery could not have gone any better for Centennial-based ULA, said an elated Jim Sponnick, vice president of ULA's Atlas and Delta rocket program.

"It was just a picture-perfect day from beginning to end," Sponnick said. "That's really a testament to years of hard-working and really capable folks working all of the details, that all culminated in a launch like we saw today."

Spectators cheer as the United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket, with NASA s Orion spacecraft mounted atop, lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (Smiley N. Pool, Associated Press/Houston Chronicle)

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Successful Orion flight was another "Apollo moment" for space science

TheCoalition for Space ExplorationcongratulatesNASA and its industry team on the successful launch and test flight of the Orion spacecraft. The flight marked the first steps toward human exploration of deep space.

Orions Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) is a significant step on the road to deep space exploration and the human journey to Mars. Through this test of the Orion spacecraft and eventual tests of the Space Launch System rocket, NASA is providing a viable path forward for human spaceflight.

This giant leap was made possible by the dedication and commitment of skilled engineers, scientists and leaders throughout NASA and its industry partners. Thanks to their efforts, the United States is completing unprecedented milestones towards future space exploration and delivering humans, habitats and space systems beyond our moon and into deep space.

About the Coalition for Space Exploration

TheCoalition for Space Explorationis a group of space industry businesses and advocacy groups that collaborates to ensure that the United States remains the leader in space, science and technology by reinforcing the value and benefits of space exploration with the public and our nations leaders, and building lasting support for a long-term, sustainable strategic direction for space exploration.

# # #

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Coalition for Space Exploration Congratulates NASA on a Successful Exploration Flight Test for Orion

The Orion spacecrafts almost flawless debut flight set the stage for the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations next challenge: finding the funding to carry humans to Mars in the 2030s.

The Apollo-like capsule orbited Earth twice yesterday to test critical functions, a 4 1/2-hour trip for the first U.S. vehicle built to transport humans to space since the shuttle in 1981. Now NASA must find political allies to keep championing a program that has already cost $7.4 billion.

The voyage, less than two months after a pair of disasters stunned the commercial space industry, helps bolster NASAs case for its biggest-ever expedition. Spending over 20 years for a Mars mission would dwarf outlays for the $100 billion International Space Station, the most expensive structure ever built.

We have a new Congress in January -- lets see what happens, said Henry Hertzfeld, research professor of space policy and international affairs at George Washington University. At the very least, anytime you have a success like that on something new, its great.

The NASA exploration budget that finances Orion and a new heavy-lift rocket is one of the few non-defense budget accounts for which House Republicans have proposed an increase from President Barack Obamas request for fiscal 2015, said Brian Friel, a government fiscal analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.

Spending would rise 5 percent to $4.17 billion under the House bill, while the Senate proposes a 10 percent increase to $4.37 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The largest beneficiaries from more spending would be Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), which manufactured the Orion, and Boeing Co. (BA), the contractors co-owner of the venture building the new rocket.

Orion is the first spaceship developed to carry humans beyond the moon, and later versions will be fine-tuned to travel to asteroids next decade and to Mars in the 2030s. NASA is targeting an Orion trip with astronauts by 2021.

While Orion was among the top trending topics worldwide on Twitter.com, NASAs new ambitions are unfolding amid a federal budget squeeze and the short attention spans of the social-media era, not the race-for-the-moon competition of the Cold War.

At Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where a Delta IV Heavy rocket carried Orion aloft, some of the weather-worn buildings displayed faded signs from news organizations that once camped out to chronicle the Apollo program. They were a reminder that interest in NASA diminished after the U.S. won the race to the moon.

The White House called the trial an important step, and Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, whose state is home to NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, said in a statement: This is the beginning of an historic advancement in space.

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NASAs Orion Conquers Orbital Test as U.S. Budget Debate Looms

The US space agency's Orion space capsule blasted off from earth on Friday on its first journey into orbit, in a key test flight before carrying people to deep space destinations like the Moon and Mars in the coming years. Here's what you need to know about the Orion mission.

About Orion

It has been more than a generation that NASA has built a spacecraft to transport astronauts into space. The last time humans ventured into space beyond Low-Earth's orbit (an orbit around the earth) was the landing on the moon. Apollo 11 was the space flight that landed humans on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The Orion spacecraft is built to satisfy our curious need for deep space exploration. It's destination includes near earth asteroids, Earth's moon, the moons of Mars and eventually Mars itself.

Orion is touted to be the safest and most advanced spacecraft to ever have been built. It is flexible and capable enough to take humans to a variety of destinations including landing on an asteroid, and into interstellar space. Low Earth Orbit is where the International Space Station (ISS) currently flies.It is where the Hubble telescope, communication satellites, spy satellites and earth observing satellite also currently fly.

Source: NASA's official channel on youtube.com

Space exploration capabilities

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) provides never before seen or experienced human space exploration capability. Orion is also capable of transporting crew and cargo to the ISS. Orion can remain docked at the ISS for upto six months. It also has the ability to stay in orbit around the moon, unattended without an astronaut on board for the duration of a lunar surface visit that could last up to half an Earth year.

Also Read:Nasa successfully launches Orion spacecraft; first step towards human expedition to Mars

Image Source: Reuters

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All you need to know about NASA's spacecraft Orion and it's mission

Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Space Flight)
The Evolution Theory in 10 mins to the legendary music of Pink Floyd. -I do not own either pieces of work-

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Talla 2XLC - R.E.D. (Driftmoon Remix) HD 720p
Fanmade video of Talla 2XLC - R.E.D. (Driftmoon Remix) HD 720p -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Made in Resolution 1280 x 720 so...

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Update for Dec. 5 at 12:27 p.m. EST: The NASA/Navy recovery teams that will retrieve Orion out of the Pacific Ocean are at the splashdown site and are waiting for the space capsule to power down. NASA and Orion builder Lockheed Martin are conducting a test to see how hot the capsule gets after splashdown with all of its systems on.FULL STORY:Splashdown! NASA's Orion Spaceship Survives Epic Test Flight as New Era Begins

NASA'sOrion capsule launched into space on its first-ever test flight at 7:05 a.m. EST (1105 GMT), riding atop a ULA Delta 4 Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The capsule is made two orbits beforesplashing down in the Pacific Ocean. See Orion Test Flight Photos Here.Watch it live here:

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Friday's launch is scheduled to take place at 7:05 a.m. EST from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. If all goes according to plan, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket will blast the unmanned Orion capsule out to 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) from Earth. Orion will then come rocketing back home at high speeds, splashing down in the P]acific Ocean about 4.5 hours after blasting off. The goal is to test out various of the capsule's systems in the space environment.

NASA's Orion Spacecraft: Full Coverage of First Test Flight

NASA plans to use Orion to take astronauts to deep-space destinations, such as asteroids and Mars. The first crewed flight of the capsule is currently slated for 2021.

Hangout: Science of 'Interstellar': Tune in at 3 pm EST today (Nov. 26) to watch astrophysicists discuss the science of Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic "Interstellar."The California-based Kavli Foundation is hosting the discussion; the participants are Mandeep Gill, Eric Miller and Hardip Sanghera. Watch it live in the window below.

NASA officials will broadcast the launch of three new crewmembers to the International Space Station on Sunday (Nov. 23) from Kazakhstan.NASA astronaut Terry Virts, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov are scheduled to launch atop a Soyuz rocket to the orbiting outpost at 4:01 p.m. EST (2101 GMT). FULL STORY:New Space Station Crew Launches Today: Watch Live .You can watch it live in the window below starting at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT):

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

From NASA: "The trio will ride to orbit in a Soyuz spacecraft, which will rendezvous with the space station and dock after four orbits of Earth. Docking to the Russian segment's Rassvet module will take place at 9:53 p.m. NASA TV coverage of docking will begin at 9:15 p.m. Around 11:30 p.m., hatches between the Soyuz and the station will be opened. Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore of NASA, as well as Flight Engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of Roscosmos, will greet Virts, Shkaplerov and Cristoforetti. Hatch opening coverage begins on NASA TV at 11 p.m."

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WATCH LIVE NOW: NASA Discusses Scrub of 1st Orion ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA's Orion deep-space capsule hit a historic peak during its first robotic test flight on Friday, and then splashed down into the Pacific Ocean for a picture-perfect ending.

On the way down, the cone-shaped spacecraft went through a "trial by fire" during which the heat of atmospheric re-entry rose as high as 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or twice the heat of molten lava.

"America has driven a golden spike as it crosses a bridge into the future," NASA spokesman Rob Navias declared as Orion hit the water, 275 miles west of Baja California, at 11:29 a.m. ET. Recovery ships converged to bring the capsule back to shore.

The finale came less than four and a half hours after Orion's launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. On Thursday, gusty winds and a balky fuel valve kept the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket grounded, but nothing went wrong on Friday.

"Liftoff at dawn! The dawn of Orion, and a new era of American space exploration!" launch commentator Mike Curie said, as the rocket blasted through the clouds just after sunrise at 7:05 a.m. ET.

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 portrayed Friday's test flight as a first step toward deep-space exploration. The mission is known as Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1.

"I would describe it as the beginning of the Mars era," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said on NASA TV.

Orion's flight marked the first time since the Apollo 17 moon mission in 1972 that a vehicle designed to carry humans went beyond low Earth orbit.

Mission managers said the rocket and capsule performed perfectly during the initial phases of the test. "It was just a blast to see how well the rocket did," said Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion program manager.

After Orion made its first circuit around the planet, the rocket's upper stage kicked it into a second, highly eccentric orbit that looped 3,604.2 miles from Earth. That's 15 times farther away than the International Space Station.

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Blastoff! 'Mars Era' Begins With Orion Test Flight

Earthrise
Kids take on the first human space flight to the moon.

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Earthrise - Video

Day 8 EFT 1 Orion Launch for Dec 4, 2014
Brent Maney, Human Space Flight Contingency Medical Specialist, explains his primary role in the Dec. 4, 2014 launch, as the landing recovery director.

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Day 8 EFT 1 Orion Launch for Dec 4, 2014 - Video

Cynthia Simmons Women@NASA 2014
Cynthia Simmons - Instrument Project Manager in the Flight Projects Directorate at Goddard Space Flight Center The Women@NASA project is the perfect opportun...

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NASA Prepares for New Era of Manned Space Flight
As NASA prepares to launch and test a new spacecraft designed to carry humans to Mars, researchers and engineers are busy giving the Kennedy Space Center, a facility that has been at the center...

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NASA Prepares for New Era of Manned Space Flight - Video

Orion on its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Mankind will take its first steps on the path to landing on Mars on Thursday, according to Nasa. The first test flight of the Orion spacecraft, the intended successor to the space shuttle, is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral just after dawn.

The unmanned $370m (235m) mission, formally known as Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), will last about four and a half hours. The success of this test is crucial for the future of Nasas human spaceflight exploration programme, said Dr David Baker, a former Nasa engineer.

Once in orbit, the conical Orion capsule will circle Earth twice, reaching a maximum altitude of 3,600 miles. At about 15 times higher than the International Space Station, it will have travelled further into space than any crew capsule has gone since the 1970s.

Orion will then plunge into Earths atmosphere at 20,000mph. This will generate temperatures of around 2,200C, which is representative of a re-entry from lunar orbit. A newly designed 16ft-wide heat shield will protect the spacecraft from burning up, allowing it to splash down off the coast of Baja California, in the Pacific, from where it will be recovered by Nasa and the US Navy.

Really this is just a test of the Orion heat shield, said Baker, who worked for Nasa for 25 years, including during the Apollo moon landings.

Beneath the hype and the excitement, there are worries that Nasas Mars programme lacks focus. The Nasa PR machine is good at bigging things up, but I think to say that this is the road to Mars is a bit much, said Ian Crawford, an astronomer and advocate of human spaceflight at Birkbeck, Univeristy of London.

Nasa says it is aiming to carry out a Mars mission in the 2030s, but there are no definite plans at the moment beyond the present one a collaboration with Sesame Street. Items including Ernies rubber ducky, Oscars pet worm, Slimey, and the Cookie Monsters cookie are being taken into space by Orion and will later be displayed on the childrens television show in the hope that they could inspire the next generation of astronauts. Nasa predicts that the first astronauts on Mars will be todays pre-schoolers.

The capsule itself is largely devoid of anything required for a human crew, such as life-support and command consoles. Instead it will be packed with 1,200 sensors to test its durability.

Orion is the first new Nasa spacecraft designed to transport humans into space for a generation. Its predecessor was the space shuttle, retired in 2011 after a 30-year programme during which there were 133 successful flights and two fatal disasters. With the shuttles retirement, Nasa lost its ability to launch astronauts into space. For the last three years it has been forced to buy seats on Russian Soyuz launches.

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Nasas space shuttle successor Orion set for first test flight

Nothing demonstrates the extreme inertia of space technology more vividly than the Orion space capsule, which NASA has been working on since 2006 and which, as my colleague Chris Davenport reports, will finally have its first test flight Thursday morning if all goes as planned.

The capsule has cost something like $9 billion so far and will cost billions more before it is ever flown with people inside. Orion will be launched this time atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket, one of the jumbo rockets owned by United Launch Alliance (a Boeing-Lockheed partnership that has a virtual monopoly on national security and military launches). This will be a quick flight, lasting just 4 hours, with a couple of spins around the Earth and a top altitude of 3,600 miles before the capsule splashes down into the Pacific Ocean.

Then, in 2018, Orion will have its first test flight atop NASAs new SLS heavy-lift rocket, which is still being built. The key detail about these first two test flights is that no one will be aboard. Finally, circa 2021 or 2022, Orion will have its maiden flight with human beings inside.

You dont need an advanced degree from MIT to grasp that this is a very stately, deliberate program, one free of the sin of haste and the vice of urgency.

Has there ever been a piece of human space hardware developed so slowly?

Or so expensively?

Serious question: Is it not a fact that Orion is the costliest capsule in human history?

Yes, it has lots of bells and whistles that the Apollo capsules lacked. This one has XM/Sirius radio built in, butt-warmers in the seats, four-way adjustable mirrors and Big-Gulp-sized cup-holders. Its got a guest room, a fully stocked bar, a laundry room and 24-hour concierge service. Its a really nice spaceship!

NASA will launch its newest spacecraft, Orion, into space for the first time Thursday, on a flight that will take it farther than any spacecraft built to carry humans has gone in more than 40 years. (NASA)

The great mystery is where it will go. If you have a big rocket (like the SLS) and this new capsule, where should you go?

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NASA has a spaceship, but where will it go?

Space Angels Network and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) announced their agreement today to promote angel investment in projects aboard the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory.

Space Angels Network Principal, Amir Blachman said, This relationship showcases the historic growth of private investment in space. We are excited to have our telescope focused on the ISS, and are honored to work with CASISs team members who are steeped in space flight, space economics and space science.

NASA has given CASIS the responsibility of inspiring the imagination of entrepreneurs and scientists alike, accelerating and facilitating space-based research. CASIS drives scientific inquiry toward developing groundbreaking new technologies and products that tangibly affect our lives, with results including new technologies and scientific knowledge in medicine, materials, and communications.

CASIS is proud to welcome Space Angels Network as a key partner in making investment dollars available to many of the startup companies interested in commercial space, said CASIS Director of Development and Partnerships, Ed Harris. Space Angels Network has a unique focus that allows its investors to understand commercial space trends and opportunities, and we look forward to working alongside them as we both push the limits of what is possible on our Nations only orbiting laboratory.

About Space Angels Network Space Angels Network is a professionally managed global network of seed and earlystage investors focused specifically on aerospace ventures. Space Angels Network members share a common passion for promoting the development of the aerospace industry and related technologies while also earning attractive returns on private investments. For the latest information, follow the companys blog and tweets.

About CASIS The Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) was selected by NASA in 2011 to maximize use of the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory. CASIS is dedicated to supporting and accelerating innovations and new discoveries that will enhance the health and wellbeing of people on our planet. For more information, http://www.iss-casis.org

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CASIS and Space Angels Network Orbits Align

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. This week's first-ever test flight of NASA's Orion deep-space capsule is all about the future of America's space effort, but it's also about reviving the past.

"I feel like the Blues Brothers we're getting the band back together," Bob Cabana, director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, said Wednesday during a news conference at the Orion's Florida launch pad.

The cone-shaped Orion craft is due for liftoff at 7:05 a.m. Thursday, atop a Delta 4 Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 37. Mission managers said there were no major technical issues standing in the way of an on-time launch.

Forecasters raised the chances of acceptable weather to 70 percent from 60 percent, with the possibility of rain or high winds looming as the only factors that could spoil the launch.

This Orion test vehicle won't be carrying a crew. The flight is meant only to check out the spacecraft's systems for the first time in space particularly its heat shield and parachutes. But a full-featured version of the spaceship is scheduled to send astronauts beyond Earth orbit in 2021, for the first time since the Apollo 17 moonshot in 1972.

NASA plans to use Orion spaceships to send astronauts to an asteroid by the mid-2020s, and to Mars and its moons starting in the 2030s.

"What you will see tomorrow is building upon the legacy of Apollo. ... If we didn't want to go to Mars, then we shouldn't have done Apollo," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told reporters.

Even this crewless outing known as Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1 carries echoes of Apollo: The 4.5-hour, two-orbit trip will send Orion 3,600 miles out from Earth, the farthest that a spacecraft meant for humans has flown since 1972. And it will splash down in the Pacific Ocean just like NASA's last Apollo spaceship, which returned to Earth at the end of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975.

"It's been close to 40 years since NASA has recovered a human-rated spacecraft from the ocean," said Jeff Angermeier, who manages ground systems development and operations for the EFT-1 mission.

Apollo veterans will be on hand on the recovery ship as well as in Mission Control. Angermeier said Milt Heflin who was onboard the recovery vessels for eight splashdowns during the Apollo and Skylab eras is aboard the USS Anchorage this time around. And Apollo flight director Gene Kranz (famous for "Failure Is Not an Option") will be a VIP guest at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

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Orion Test Flight Brings Back That Apollo Feeling

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -

Orion is set to fly farther than any human-rated spacecraft since the Apollo moon program...

An estimated 26,000 guests were expected to jam Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the sunrise launch - many who just have an interest in space exploration and history, others whose connections to the Orion project run deep.

It has taken a lot of hard work to get the rocket ready for flight. About 100 folks at Marshall Space Flight Center had a hand in this mission. Some, like David Osborne, made small parts that made a big impact.

Osborne, 44, is a machinist at MSFC.

"We take something that is pretty basic, a solid material, and when we get finished with it - machining it, drilling it, cutting on it - it is a usable, functional part that will actually bolt some of the parts in the Orion," Osborne explained.

David makes small parts and big parts. He says the lighter the metal the better for space flight. Some parts are made on Apollo era machines like this huge green one ....others are created on lathes and milling machines using computers. David has made a lot of parts, hundreds by his account.

Osborne said the pride he has in his work will be passed down through his family.

"I'll be able to tell my daughter that I actually had a hand in some of what's going into space - now and for the future. I had a hand on it."

David was 2 years old the last time America traveled this far into space - too young to remember that flight. This time, he is packing up his family in New Hope and bringing them down to Cape Canaveral to see Thursday's launch in person.

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Small parts, big ambition: Assembling space history