NASA tests the spacecraft that will transport humans to Mars in 2030

Nearly 70 years after man first landed on the Moon, man will now land on Mars. Goals outlined in NASA’s proposed timeline forecast a manned mission to the red planet in the 2030s and the Dec. 4, 2014 launch of the Orion spacecraft will play a crucial role. This week’s flight is designed to pave the way for the future missions by evaluating many of the riskiest elements associated with leaving and returning to Earth such as the craft’s ability to jettison its launch abort system, the separation of the crew module from its service module (prior to reentering the atmosphere), the heat shields’ ability to endure temperatures nearing 4000 Fahrenheit, and how the computers handle the radiation environment in the Van Allen Belt.

The test launch will direct the spacecraft approximately 3,600 miles away from Earth’s orbit using NASA’s Delta IV Heavy rocket, although the final model destined for Mars will leverage NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever constructed.

Orion prepared for lift at launch pad

Orion is the first spacecraft constructed to house astronauts destined for deep space missions since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s, and is designed to travel farther that humans have ever traveled before. Astronauts conducting the Asteroid Redirect Mission in the early part of the 2020s will be the first to board the craft. The mission requires that astronauts rendezvous with a passing asteroid and entangle around the Moon’s orbit using a robotic spacecraft before returning home with physical samples. The mission perpetrate the first field test of new technologies such as the Solar Electric Propulsion, a method of transporting heavy cargo that is intended for use in the 2030s Mars missions.

Future Mars missions hold a vast potential for scientific discoveries given the planet’s formation and evolutions approximates that of the Earth’s. In addition, it is speculated that Mars had once hosted conditions suitable for life and unraveling these mysteries may shed some light on the origin of life on Earth.

12.5.14 Update :
“GO” for liftoff was given as 7:03 am EST and Orion lifts off at 7:05 am EST.

Orion reaches orbit at 7:14 am EST

Source: NASA.gov