NASA to Test on Dec. 4 Orion Spacecraft Capable of Bringing Humans to Multiple Destinations in Deep Space

Nov 22, 2014 06:28 AM EST

(Photo : Reuters) The Orion capsule is moved at Kennedy Space Center in Florida November 11, 2014. The NASA spacecraft designed to one day fly astronauts to Mars rolled out of its processing hangar at the U.S. space agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday to be prepared for a debut test flight in December. REUTERS/Mike Brown (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY)

The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) is set to test next month the Orion spacecraft which would be capable of bringing humans to several destinations in deep space. The launch, though, would still be unmanned. It will be on December 4 at NASA's Florida Space Coast.

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"It's a very important launch. And it really is historic to see a human-rated spacecraft to go farther than anyone has gone in 40 years. A real shot in the arm for NASA and the country," Click2houston quotes astronaut Rex Walheim.

Crewed missions would likely be in the early 2020s. Similar to the Apollo that brought astronauts to the Moon, the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle could carry up to six spacemen for space travel to a captured asteroid or Mars. But it would surely be more advanced that Apollo with high-tech electronics, reports Space.com.

It would be partnered with the Space Launch System of NASA. It's a next-gen booster to bring astronauts out of low-Earth orbit again. But for its test flight, Orion would fly in tandem with a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket.

For the test flight, Orion would fly 3,600 miles above Earth for 4.5 hours. Its mission is to try the systems needed for future human mission into deep space. The spacecraft will orbit twice and re-enter Earth at 20,000 miles per hour speed. When its temperature reaches almost 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, Orion's parachute system will deploy to slow it down in preparation for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, reports Huffington Post.

In developing Orion, NASA aimed for a space vehicle that could fly for decades visiting various space destinations. Its design allows two round trips to Mars yearly. NASA also made it unnecessary to redesign the spacecraft or begin a new program even if new space destinations would be identified later.

Mark Kirasich, deputy program manager of Orion, adds, "What we're doing is about human exploration. It's about sending people to places that we've never been before. It's about expanding our knowledge base."

Tagsorion, spacecraft, NASA, Mars