Orion is now more than 3,000 miles above Earth after its launch on a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Florida this AM. Orion is not carrying people, but NASA wants to find out about how the spacecraft behaves in flight and what conditions it encounters in orbit and during re-entry. Onboard sensors will gauge the heat shield, radiation levels and exact conditions as Orion flies two orbits around Earth that will take it through high radiation zones of the Van Allen belts and the high temperatures of re-entry through the atmosphere. Orion is expected to splashdown in the Pacific at around 11:29 a.m. EST.
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