A series of problems forced NASA to delay a planned launch of its its new Orion spacecraft on Thursday.
The next launch attempt is slated for Friday at 7:05 a.m. ET.
The launch, an early step in NASA’s mission to send people to Mars, was set to begin at 7:05 a.m. ET on Thursday but was delayed multiple times for a variety of reasons, including a boat in the area and valve trouble on the core booster. Thursday’s launch window closed at 9:44 a.m. ET.
The un-crewed Orion is intended to orbit 3,600 miles above Earth before it finally crashes into the Pacific Ocean. It will measure the effects of high radiation zones on the spacecraft, which has a heat shield to withstand massive temperatures when it speeds into the atmosphere at 20,000 mph, before finally hitting the ocean.
There will be more test-runs to come for Orion, a vessel that NASA hopes will ultimately take astronauts into new places–maybe even Mars.
A History of the Orion Spacecraft in Pictures
NASA's Orion spacecraft, atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket, lifts off on its first unmanned orbital test flight from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 5, 2014, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Chris O'Meara—APNASA’s Orion spacecraft awaits its first flight test on Dec. 4, 2014 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37 in Florida.Bill Ingalls—NASATeam members work to secure a test version of Orion in the Pacific Ocean during a test recovery mission on Sept. 17, 2014.Kim Shiflett—NASAAn artist's illustration of the 38-story launch system with Orion on top.NASA / MSFCA model of Orion floats above an underwater mockup of the International Space Station in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston on April 25, 2013. Bill Stafford—JSC/NASAA version of the engine that will power Orion's launch system burns during a hot-fire test on Nov. 27, 2012 at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. NASA/SSCThe NASA team at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans completed the final weld on the first space-bound Orion capsule, on June 22, 2012.NASAOrion's launch system undergoes a hot-fire test.Aerojet RocketdyneThe Orion capsule sits within the Vehicle Assembly Building on May 24, 2012 in NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Dmitri Gerondidakis—NASAAn artist's illustration of Orion's Flight Test NASAThe 16.5 ft. diameter, titanium heat shield was fabricated by Lockheed Martin in Denver for the Orion spacecraft. The shield will have to withstand temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Patrick H. Corkery—Lockheed MartinA test model of the Orion spacecraft was dropped high above the the Arizona desert on Feb. 29, 2012. NASAGround teams in White Sands, New Mexico, practice an abort test on Sept. 24, 2009. NASA