Mission
Operations Director Paul Hill talks to the media as NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden and Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa visit
Mission Control in the newly renovated and historic White Flight Control
Room, which will be used to support NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
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The
mission patches that adorn the walls reflect the control room's previous
use in the Space Shuttle Program.
Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to
destinations in deep space, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have
emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and
provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Exploration
Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), planned for December 2014, will be Orion's first
mission.
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EFT-1 will send an uncrewed spacecraft 3,600 miles above the
Earth for a two-orbit flight that will give engineers the chance to
verify its design and test some of the systems most critical for the
safety of the astronauts who will fly on it in the future.
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After
traveling 15 times farther into space than the International Space
Station, Orion will return to Earth at speeds near 20,000 mph,
generating temperatures of up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before
splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Image Credit: NASA
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