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EFT-1 was the first flight of NASA’s new crew-rated spacecraft, Orion. The mission launched on December 5, 2014 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37 in Florida. While Orion is planned to launch on the space agency’s new Space Launch System super heavy-lift booster, NASA tapped United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy to get the mission underway. The flight was delayed 24 hours due to high winds. Orion flew out some 3,671 miles (5,908 km), two orbits, on a mission that lasted four hours and 24 minutes. The spacecraft used the Delta IV Heavy’s upper stage until reentry of Earth’s atmosphere – when it reached speeds of 20,000 miles per hour (32,000 km/h). Photos courtesy: Sean Costello, Michael Deep, Jared Haworth, Michael Howard, Charles Twine, Michael Seeley, Mark Usciak
