In July 1969, America watched with rapt attention as Neil Armstrong placed the first human footprints on the moon. This perfect "one small step" set an entire generation of dreamers, explorers and risk-takers on a trajectory to the stars.

Since that time, the American space program has been burdened by budget cuts and since retiring the space shuttle in 2011 dependence on foreign entities such as Russia to get our astronauts to space.

But that's rapidly changing, and the Colorado-centric NASA Orion mission set to launch Thursday and venture further into space than any NASA spacecraft built for humans in more than 40 years is leading the charge.

(Denver Post)

"The Orion program ... is a great example of Colorado's center stage in the space industry," said Jay Lindell, aerospace industry champion with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. "We are a leader in the nation in aerospace employment, technology development, and our Colorado industry supported by superb universities leads the way with the Orion program."

Space-related jobs

Colorado has the top number of aerospace workers, per capita, of any state in the nation, according to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. Projects such as Orion contribute greatly to Colorado's economy, which boasts about 170,000 aerospace-related jobs and more than 400 aerospace-related companies, according to EDC data.

Orion's prime contractor is Littleton-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems. The spacecraft and heat shield were designed and built at Space Systems' Waterton Canyon campus.

About 1,000 employees throughout several of Space Systems' locations have fingerprints on some aspect of the Orion project, with just under 800 of them in Littleton, company spokeswoman Allison Rakes said.

But the Colorado connection doesn't end there. Orion, which is set to launch on Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1, on Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral, Fla., will take a 17-minute ride into orbit on the world's most powerful rocket the Centennial-based United Launch Alliance-made Delta IV Heavy.

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NASA's Orion spacecraft will launch Dec. 4 on EFT-1 into deep space