NASA delays Orion spacecraft launch

Weather condition and technical issues cited for putting off
launch of unmanned spacecraft until Friday .
NASA has postponed the launch of an unmanned spacecraft
that is designed to help get humans to Mars , a mission touted
as the first step in deep space exploration .
The tiny Orion spacecraft was scheduled to blast off at 12 : 05
GMT on Thursday with the help of a Delta 4 Heavy
rocket , known as the biggest booster rocket in the US fleet .
However , weather condition and technical issues prompted
several delays and final decision to reschedule the launch for
12 : 05 GMT on Friday .
"Today ' s planned launch of #Orion is postponed due to valve
issue . Our next possible launch window opens at 7: 05 am
ET Friday , " NASA announced on its Twitter account on
Thursday.
The conical spacecraft looks similar to the Apollo capsule that
took astronauts to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s , but
slightly larger and with modern electronics .
NASA hopes to send an Orion crew to an asteroid
corralled in lunar orbit in the 2020 s and to Mars in the
2030 s.
'Exploring deep space'
Earlier on Thursday, Mike Sarafin , the lead flight director
stationed at Mission Control in Houston , Texas said :
"We haven ' t had this feeling in a while, since the end of the
shuttle programme . Launching an American spacecraft from
American soil and beginning something new , in this case
exploring deep space . "
The space capsule is aiming to travel for a distance of
57 , 800 km , 14 times higher than the International Space
Station.
This high altitude will give it the momentum it needs for a
32, 200 -kph, 4 , 000- degree entry over the Pacific. Those
crucial 11 minutes to splashdown is the critical part NASA
calls the " trial by fire ".
The heat shield at Orion ' s base , at five metres across , is the
largest of its kind ever built. Orion will land in the Pacific
Ocean, 1 , 000km off the coast of Baja , California where
recovery teams will retrieve the shuttle .
NASA wants to experiment with the capsule’ s most critical
parts before it carries out astronauts .
This $ 370 m trial includes the heat shield, parachutes and all
the sections jettisoned during ascent and entry .
The capsule will also pass through extreme radiation in the
Van Allen belts surrounding Earth, as engineers want to
estimate the effects on the on -board computers .
Lockheed Martin Corporation is managing the test flight for
NASA .
Sarafin' s entire team at Johnson Space Center in Houston
is comprised of former shuttle flight controllers .
Gene Kranz , known as the legendary flight director of
Apollo 11 and more, will be on hand in Mission Control on
Friday.