The spacecraft, which could one day take humans to Mars, will blast off for its maiden voyage on Dec. 4.<\/p>\n
NASA's next-generation Orion crew module has finally been completed, and the first spacecraft designed to carry humans on deep space missions beyond the moon will undergo its first test flight on Dec. 4, the space agency said this week. <\/p>\n
Orion marks a return to the capsule designs of the Apollo Program. The Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is larger than the three-person spacecraft used to take the Apollo astronauts to the Moon and back, with room enough to carry an additional space traveler. <\/p>\n
The four-person, long-range capsule's first test flight will carry it to 15 times the height of the International Space Station. <\/p>\n
The first, uncrewed test flight will be a 4.5-hour trip sending Orion around the Earth twice at a distance of 36,000 miles, or \"farther than any crewed spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years,\" according to the space agency. <\/p>\n
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NASA's Deep-Space Orion Capsule Ready for Test Flight<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The spacecraft, which could one day take humans to Mars, will blast off for its maiden voyage on Dec. 4. Continue reading