Saturday, March 15, 2014

EFT-1 Launch Moved to December

Hey Space Placers!

I truly enjoyed "Live From Space" last night - I hope you saw it. 1st class hobby NASA, the astronauts on ISS, Mission Control in Houston and CNN.

It was interesting to hear the often repeated phrase of "What we learn on ISS will help us to get to Mars". This is true of course as ISS is the only means we have to learn about the effects of space and microgravity on the human body AND spacecraft for long periods of time.

But to get to Mars we need a spacecraft and rocket that can get us there. That is what NASA is developing in the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS). I have blogged extensively about Orion, SLS and the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission that will test Orion.

NASA announced yesterday, March 14th, that it is moving EFT-1 from the original launch timeframe of September-October back to early December. This is being done according to NASA " to support allowing more opportunities for launches this year.  Completing the spacecraft according to the original schedule will allow many engineers and technicians to continue transitioning to work on the Orion spacecraft that will fly atop the agency's Space Launch System. It will also ensure that NASA's partners are fully ready for the launch of EFT-1 at the earliest opportunity on the manifest."

NASA further stated that Orion and EFT-1 preparations are proceeding.


EFT-1 will be a milestone in NASA's return to manned spaceflight operations.


I can hardly wait.


Sky Guy in VA



NASA 

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