NASA official Orion spacecraft launch with video of upper stage in orbit up to 142 miles above the earth’s surface.
NASA’s Orion spacecraft launched successfully atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket Dec. 5 at 7:05 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Orion’s Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), is the first flight test for NASA’s new deep space capsule and is a critical step on NASA’s journey to Mars. The 4.5 hour flight is scheduled to conclude with the splashdown of Orion in the Pacific Ocean.
The rocket hit the speed of sound about one minute and 30 seconds into the launch.
The rocket passed Mach 5 at 00:03:01 into the flight.
At 00:08:30 seconds into the flight of the upper stage, the spacecraft was traveling at almost 14,000 miles per hour with an altitude flattening out at about 142 miles above the earth’s surface.
Get updates from The Cardinal ALL NEWS FEEDS on Facebook. Just ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Page (become a fan of our page). The updates cover all posts and sub-category posts from The Cardinal — Arlingtoncardinal.com. You can also limit feeds to specific categories. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …