NASA’s Orion Test Flight is a Go

After technical difficulties that kept NASA’s Orion from launching yesterday, the spacecraft had lift off this morning at 7:05 AM EST. At the time of this post, Orion has reached over 3,600 miles above Earth and is heading back towards our planet at 20,000 miles per hour. The spacecraft is expected to land in the Pacific at 11:29 AM EST. This test flight will bring NASA one step closer to a mission to Mars.

Liftoff! #Orion's flight test launches a critical step on our #JourneytoMars Watch: http://t.co/6XtjOi1yJo

— NASA (@NASA) December 5, 2014

Stunning images from the #OrionLaunch: http://t.co/U5uxNaNLVj pic.twitter.com/lv2NFpf12N

— ABC News (@ABC) December 5, 2014

Here's Earth as seen from #Orion during its flight out to a peak altitude of 3,600 miles away from the planet. pic.twitter.com/cBN0jpT2LV

— NASA (@NASA) December 5, 2014

Lead flight director for #Orion's first flight, Mike Sarafin, monitors #Orion from Mission Control Houston. pic.twitter.com/gHaCWMyWMs

— Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) December 5, 2014

.@USNavy ships that help recover #Orion are deployed near splashdown site: http://t.co/HwLWlaDnhf #OrionLaunch pic.twitter.com/XLIOAA6nTj

— NASA Marshall News (@NASA_Marshall) December 5, 2014

Missed the Orion launch? Check out the video below: