The Orion spacecraft was off-loaded from the well deck of the USS Anchorage Monday night after the amphibious ship docked in San Diego. The ship’s crew along with NASA and Lockheed Martin teams retrieved the spacecraft from the Pacific Ocean at the end of the highly successful Orion flight test that saw the Orion fly about 3,600 miles above Earth in a 4.5-hour evaluation of critical systems and mechanisms including jettison events and the ability of the heat shield to stand up to temperatures of 4,000 degrees F. Next up for Orion, a trip cross-country back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

what a feeling…I was just seven or eight years old when I watched the first time Mercury was on tv…a little black and white tv, which had dials larger than the screen…I was hooked on NASA…I am a true and die hard believer of space exploration…Robotic exploration is the backbone of any program, and should be backed up with manned exploration…There was a void without Shuttle, but with private companies starting to fill that void…I believe we are on a good path to discovery, and to finding new partnerships in the private space industry…this is the logical continuation for our whole space program…I would like our government to allocate more money to NASA to speed up the pace…I’ma gittin’ old…
and a note to Steve, thanks for your work in reporting space news…I watched all four hours and twenty four minutes plus of the Orion Test Flight…Tears were welling up as the first flames exploded out of the bottom of the stack…and the familiar feeling of relief at splash down…there is nothing better…
Mr. Siceloff:
Is Orion going to be flown via military air to the Cape? Will it fit into a C-17 or C-5? Thanks! – Joe
Orion is traveling by truck across the country.
Will it be making any “publicity” stops, such as in Houston?
NASA does not plan to make any such stops.
Orion will be traveling back to Florida by truck.