The Thursday launch of NASA's new generation spacecraft Orion was postponed due to bad weather and some technical issues.
The test flight was deferred by 24 hours and NASA engineers will try again on Friday. A combination of gusty winds and dodgy valves resulted in the Orion launch getting rescheduled five times and finally getting scrubbed.
The launch on 5 December is scheduled for 5.35 pm (IST) and will be covered by NASA Television from 4.30 pm (IST). IB Times India Edition will be Live Streaming the take two of Orion launch.
The four-and-a-half hour flight, called Exploration Flight Test-1, will send Orion 3,600 miles from Earth on a two-orbit flight and test if it is capable of fulfilling NASA's promise of sending humans to Mars. On completion of both orbits, the spacecraft will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off Baja California.
This new generation spacecraft would be the first mission since Apollo to send astronauts deep into space, if the launch becomes successful on the rescheduled date.
NASA hopes to use Orion to take astronauts to the moon in 2020s and to Mars in the 2030s, while a midways mission to an asteroid is also on the cards.
Watch Orion Take off live:
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
NASA had released a video of the news briefing held at Kennedy Space Center following Orion's launch scrub, wherein Brandi Dean of NASA communications explained that the launch was postponed because of an issue related to fill and drain valves on the Delta IV Heavy rocket. The teams could not troubleshoot the issue in time for the launch window, which expired at 8.14 pm (IST).
