After the end of the space shuttle program, NASA's new venture Orion will be launching into space tomorrow at a rescheduled 7:05 am E.T. (watch the live stream here). It should orbit the Earth twice on its 4.5 hr unmanned flight at around 5,800 km above our planet. With the aim of a successful test flight, the long-term goal of the program is deep space exploration for human beings.
What's most exciting is that pending tomorrow's success, Orion will be traveling to an asteroid with its four-person crew in 2021, and will then be landing in mid-2030 on Mars. Mars!! The Red Planet itself. I have not had the spare 3 hours to watch Interstellar, nor last year's Gravity, but am certain that this will hopefully be one of those instances where art imitates life--for the only movie I've seen recently on space has been...Alien.
What's most exciting is that pending tomorrow's success, Orion will be traveling to an asteroid with its four-person crew in 2021, and will then be landing in mid-2030 on Mars. Mars!! The Red Planet itself. I have not had the spare 3 hours to watch Interstellar, nor last year's Gravity, but am certain that this will hopefully be one of those instances where art imitates life--for the only movie I've seen recently on space has been...Alien.