For the first time since 1981 NASA test flew a new vehicle designed to carry astronauts into space. The unmanned Exploration Flight Test 1 mission, the maiden flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, launched during the second launch attempt atop a Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral, prior to a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
The mission involved Orion making two orbits of the planet during a four and a half hour mission that ended with the spacecraft’s recovery in the Pacific Ocean.
Reaching a maximum altitude of 5,790 kilometres the mission tested separation mechanisms, demonstrated Orion’s Crew Module in orbit and proved that the spacecraft can withstand atmospheric reentry and be recovered successfully.
Over three years after Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at the end of STS-135, The launch was a major milestone for NASA as it works to reestablish America’s manned space program.
The EFT-1 mission allows key systems on the Orion spacecraft to be tested years before it would have otherwise been able to fly.
Source: NASAspaceflight.com