MELBOURNE, Fla. — Wind and rain showers could pose a challenge during Thursday morning's attempt to launch NASA's Orion exploration capsule from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its first test flight.
Meteorologists
predict a 60% chance of favorable weather for the unmanned launch
planned at 7:05 a.m. Thursday, the opening of a window that lasts for
two hours and 39 minutes.
A high pressure ridge moving into the area is expected to bring
gusty, easterly winds, low clouds and occasional coastal showers,
according to the Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron.
Conditions in the Pacific Ocean are expected to be fine for Orion's splashdown about four-and-a-half hours after liftoff.
If the launch doesn't go off Thursday, the odds are the same Friday: 60% "go."
NASA,
Lockheed Martin and United Launch Alliance are attempting to launch
Orion on a $375 million, two-orbit mission called Exploration Flight
Test-1.
Boosted by a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 37, the test
will send Orion 3,600 miles above the planet — 15 times higher than the
International Space Station — to set up a 20,000-mph re-entry through
the atmosphere and parachute-assisted splashdown.
The flight will
offer early insight into the performance of various Orion systems, most
importantly the heat shield, at least seven years before astronauts are
expected to climb aboard.
NASA has spent more than eight years and
$9 billion developing the spacecraft the agency hopes will carry crews
to an asteroid and eventually Mars. A second unmanned test flight is
targeted for 2018 and a first flight with a crew is possible by 2021.
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