HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. – Rocket engines assembled and tested in Mississippi at the Stannis Space Center are expected to be put to use Friday. NASA plans on initiating their first test launch for the Orion project at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The craft is designed to allow humans to explore deep space and NASA hopes to use the craft for a manned mission to Mars in 2035.
The test was planned for Thursday morning, but it had to be pushed back because of problems with fuel valves and windy conditions. The inaugural flight will orbit the Earth twice at 3,600 miles above the surface. It is the first attempt to send a spacecraft capable of carrying humans beyond a couple hundred miles beyond earth since the Apollo moon program.
