MISSION TO MARS

 

NASA’s newest spacecraft, Orion, will be launching into space for the first time on Dec. 4, 2014. Orion will fly to orbit atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket.

The Orion spacecraft is designed to eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations never explored by humans. It will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to distant planetary bodies, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel, and provide safe reentry from deep space.

This mission is the first of three trial runs that the Orion mission must overcome before NASA deems it safe enough for human space travel.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html