By Andy Pasztor
NASA's planned launch of an initial, unmanned version of its
Orion capsule from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was
delayed by weather and technical issues Thursday morning, but
another attempt is planned for Friday.
Orion's launch would have marked the first test flight of a
spacecraft the U.S. hopes to rely on for human exploration of the
solar system in the next few decades.
Weather and technical issues stopped the countdown multiple
times before and after the planned liftoff time of 7 a.m. EST and
the launch was eventually scrubbed. Wind shifts and an errant
boater who mistakenly entered the protected launch zone were
responsible for some initial delays.
Automated fail-safe systems twice halted the countdown when
sensors recorded excessive winds. Later, balky valves on the
liquid-oxygen fuel system prompted another delay.
Featuring two orbits and scheduled to last less than five hours,
the voyage was slated to take Orion some 3,600 miles above the
earth, more than 10 times higher than the trajectory of the
international space station. But it won't resolve long-standing
questions about how future Orion missions will be paid for or even
where they would go.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials describe
the 11-foot long Orion, with its advanced onboard life-support
systems and radiation shields, as the primary vehicle to transport
future astronauts to asteroids and eventually to Mars, perhaps by
the late 2030s. Yet so far, NASA's plans have failed to generate
the international support, congressional consensus and public
excitement back home that the agency expected.
It is unclear how NASA's budgets--already stretched by the
international space station--over the next decade will cover
Orion's development as well as a steady launch rhythm. Building and
testing separate vehicles able to touch down at destinations is
likely to cost billions of additional dollars. Debate also
continues to simmer on Capitol Hill and elsewhere about whether
astronauts should first take Orion near the moon to perfect
propulsion, fueling, life-support and other essential
technologies.
Orion illustrates the mercurial, sometimes roller-coaster nature
of U.S. manned space efforts better than any other recent
program.
The test would have been the first time since 1972, when Apollo
17 returned from the moon, that a spacecraft built to carry
astronauts will venture beyond low-earth orbit.
The major goals of the test flight will be to assess how well
Orion's navigation and electronics systems stand up to radiation,
the performance of its heat shield and the way its parachutes are
able to withstands re-entry speeds.
Built by Lockheed Martin Corp. and currently costing the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration about $1 billion a
year, NASA casts Orion as the key to deep-space ventures.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
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