Universe Today
Orion's inaugural launch on Dec. 5, 2014 atop United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida at 7:05 a.m. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Zero-G News/AmericaSpace Expanded with a growing gallery![/caption]
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - After four decades of waiting, the dawn of a new era in space exploration finally began with the dawn liftoff of NASA's
first Orion spacecraft
on Friday, Dec. 5, 2014.
The picture perfect liftoff
of Orion
on its inaugural
unmanned test flight relit the path to send humans beyond low Earth orbit for the first time since the launch of Apollo 17 on NASA's final moon landing mission on Dec. 7, 1972.
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NASA's first Orion spacecraft blasts off at 7:05 a.m. atop United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy Booster at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 5, 2014. Launch pad remote camera view. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com[/caption]
Orion soared to space atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at 7:05 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Enjoy the spectacular launch photo gallery from my fellow space journalists and photographers captured from various up close locations ringing the Delta launch complex.
Tens of thousands of spectators descended upon the Kennedy Space Center to be an eyewitness to history and the new space era - and they were universally thrilled.
Orion is the first human rated spacecraft to fly beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 and was built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
The EFT-1 mission was a complete success.
The Orion program began about a decade ago.
America's astronauts flying aboard Orion will venture farther into deep space than ever before - beyond the Moon to Asteroids, Mars and other destinations in our Solar System starting around 2020 or 2021 on Orion's first crewed flight atop NASA's new monster rocket - the SLS - concurrently under development.
Watch for
Ken's
ongoing Orion coverage from onsite at the Kennedy Space Center about the historic launch on Dec. 5.
Stay tuned here for
Ken's
continuing Orion and Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
Ken Kremer
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Apollo 17 launch on Dec. 7, 1972. Credit: Julian Leek[/caption]
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NASA's first Orion spacecraft blasts off at 7:05 a.m. atop United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy Booster at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 5, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
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Orion at dawn moments before liftoff on Dec. 5, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com[/caption]