In the next eight minutes you'll
experience a twenty-five-and-a-half day
mission from roll out to recovery. The
first integrated flight test of the
Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch
System rocket, launching from the
Kennedy Space Center, is about to unfold.
This is the first of many missions to
come that will use the deep-space
exploration system to prepare our team,
our ship, and our astronauts for human
operations in deep space.
Rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building signals 
that launch is near.
Sitting atop the mobile launcher the crawler transporter moves along the crawler way towards the
historic launch pad 39b at the Kennedy
Space Center at a top speed of 1 mile an hour.
After traveling over 4 miles,
the rocket and spacecraft climb up a
ramp and are positioned over a flame
trench. Once in position, the mobile
launcher is lowered onto support posts
and the crawlers roll away to a safe distance.
Final checks are performed at
the pad, including crew cabin closeout via
the access arm sitting over 300 feet
above the surface of the launch pad.
The launch date is set and the teams are
prepared for the mission that is about to occur.
At sunrise on launch day
engineers in the launch control center
have already powered up the spacecraft
in the rocket and loaded the core stage
and upper stage with cryogenic fuel. As
launch window open approaches final
checks are performed and when all
systems are go terminal countdown is initiated.
The big physics of launch are
about to be put on full demonstration.
Umbilical plates weighing hundreds of
pounds await their cue to retract to
clear the path of the rocket at liftoff,
some mounted on arms the size of
tractor-trailers. The mighty core stage
engines are prepared for engine start
as they are thermally conditioned for an
onrush of cryogenic fuel in the heat of ignition.
At T-minus 15 seconds sound
suppression is activated, cascading water
into the flame trench to dampen the
acoustic shock, and as the core stage
engines achieve full throttle shock
diamonds appear. At booster ignition the
flame trench is flooded with fire. 
At first motion all umbilical arms are
retracted and the rocket clears the
tower in just seconds. At liftoff the
vehicle produces 8.8
million pounds of thrust and lofts the
vehicle weighing nearly 6 million pounds and standing 32 stories tall to orbit.
Propelled by a pair of five-segment boosters and
four liquid engines, the
rocket achieves maximum dynamic pressure
only 90 seconds into the mission--the
period of greatest atmospheric force on
the structure of the rocket. Thousands
will gather in Florida to watch our ship
get smaller and smaller and leave the
Space Coast behind.
Approximately two minutes into the mission
the boosters will have consumed all of
their solid propellant and are safely
jettisoned. The rocket will continue on
guiding itself to orbit with magnificent
precision. Just three minutes into the
mission the service module fairings are
jettisoned to lighten the vehicle and
expose Orion solar arrays. Just 40
seconds later the launch abort system is
also jettisoned. It is no longer needed:
Orion could safely abort at any time.
Once at the desired velocity target the core stage engines are shut down and the core stage separates.
The interim cryo propulsion stage with Orion will continue to orbit the Earth.
Along the way they will past through the altitude
of the International Space Station at
250 statute miles. During this first
orbit the solar arrays are deployed so
that Orion no longer needs battery power.
It can now produce its own power.
Following solar array deployment, the arrays are positioned into a load-bearing configuration to prepare
for the perigee raise maneuver. The raise
maneuver will ensure an Earth orbit and
use the thrust provided by the interim
cryo propulsion stage. Once the perigee
raise maneuver is complete
Orion systems are checked prior to
committing to the translunar injection
or TLI maneuver. The TLI maneuver must be
successfully completed to depart Earth
orbit. The TLI burn is approximately 20
minutes in duration and increases the
spacecraft's velocity over 9,000 feet
per second--a speed change faster than a
high-powered rifle bullet travels.
Following TLI, Orion is committed to a
lunar trajectory just one-and-a-half
hours after launch. Once complete, the
spacecraft adapter will remain with the
interim cyro propulsion stage and they
will separate from Orion.
As Orion departs low-Earth orbit it will fly
through the orbital debris field
encircling the Earth. Past the global
positioning navigation satellites,
past the communication satellites in
geostationary orbit, and through the Van
Allen radiation belts on into the deep
space radiation environment. Orion is now
entering in outbound coast phase. The
spacecraft is uniquely designed to
navigate, communicate, and operate in this
deep space environment. The outbound
coast of the Moon will take
approximately 4 days. As Orion approaches
the Moon, the service module will be used
to perform a critical lunar gravity
assist maneuver, allowing the ship to
enter a distant retrograde orbit about the Moon.
The Moon will get larger and
larger in the window and at closest
approach Orion will be just 62
miles from the surface of the Moon.
As the spacecraft flies around the far side
of the Moon we will lose all
communication back on Earth and for a
period of time Orion will be on its own.
Mission Control will await acquisition
of signal and as we lock on a new
generation will see their first Earth
rise. The spacecraft is now in the
distant retrograde orbit, where its
systems will be tested in the deep space
environment for over a week. Along the
way our ship will travel farther from
Earth than any human-capable spacecraft
has ever gone. At the farthest point
Orion will be some 1,000 times farther
from Earth than the International Space
Station, at over 270,000 miles away. Teams in Mission Control Houston and at Naval
Base San Diego will prepare for Orion's
return home and the recovery ship will
set sail for the recovery zone in the Pacific Ocean.
Orion will exit the distant retrograde
orbit with another lunar gravity assist
and service module engine firing. Along
the way the trajectory will be adjusted
to target the Earth's thin atmosphere at
over a quarter-million miles away and
ensure precision landing in the Pacific
Ocean following a direct entry.
During the coast home Orion will maintain the desired tail to Sun attitude to
optimize spacecraft cooling and maximize
power production in the deep space
environment. Another 4 days’ return
coast home to Earth.
As our home planet fills the windows of Orion an important contribution from our
European partners, called the service
module, has done its job.
The service module is jettisoned and separates.
Following separation the world's largest heat shield will be oriented into the direction of travel
to prepare for entry interface and an
altitude of 400,000 feet.
At entry interface, Orion will hit the
Earth's atmosphere traveling at a speed
of 24,500 miles an hour and 
decelerate up to nine times
the force of gravity. The heat
shield will protect the spacecraft from
temperatures half as hot as the surface
of the Sun--approaching 5,000
degrees Fahrenheit. Orion will continue to decelerate, pass through the sound
barrier, and announce its arrival to the waiting 
recovery team with a sonic boom.
Following peak heating a protective
thermal cover that sits over the
parachutes will be jettisoned. This
begins a series of parachute deployments.
The drogue chute deployment series is
designed to stabilize and slow the
spacecraft in a period of less than 20
minutes--Orion will slow from the speed of Mach
32 to 0 at splashdown. The three main
parachutes will deploy and slowly unfurl
and suspend the 22,000 pound capsule and
allow it to gently descend to the
surface of the ocean. After 25-and-a-half
days, and a total distance traveled
exceeding 1.3 million miles, a precision
landing within eyesight of the recovery ship.
Following splashdown Orion will
remain powered for a period of time as
Navy divers approach in small boats
from the waiting recovery ship. After a
brief inspection for hazards, the divers
will hook up tending lines and a towline.
The capsule will be then towed
into the well deck of the recovery ship,
and once the capsule clears the stern
gate, the gate will be closed, the well
deck will be drained, and we will bring
our ship home. We invite you to follow
along at www.NASA.gov/exploration
