It was perfect the first test of the capsule that one day will lead … – publico

                 

                         
                     

                         
                     

                 

 
                         

After the first failed attempt on Thursday, NASA’s Orion capsule left on Friday, at 12.05 (Lisbon time), for its inaugural test. Launched by a Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States, the capsule has two turns to earth and plunged into perfection in the Pacific Ocean, at 16h29. In the future, the device can carry astronauts to asteroids, the moon or even Mars. But in its first flight test, was empty for the sake of security.

                     

                          The time window for take-off was, on Friday, in 2h39m, bet ween 7:05 a.m. and 9:44 a.m. the local (12h05 and 14h44, Lisbon time). On Thursday, strong winds and a technical problem prevented the match.

This time the launch was successful. The rocket, the most powerful that currently exists in the world, dropped the capsule within 17 minutes after departure, to give two elliptical turns to Earth, reaching a maximum altitude of 5800 km.

The unit entered another time in Earth’s atmosphere at about 30,000 miles per hour – a rate similar to the capsule would have come from the Moon, according to BBC News. And survived a blistering descent through the atmosphere, warming up to 2200 degrees Celsius, and suffering a gravitational force eight times that of Earth.

In the last minutes, 11 parachutes were opened to slow the descent of device. The last three giant parachute slowed the speed of the ship up to 32 miles per hour at the time that plunged into the sea.

The unit fell to 1 014 kilometers southwest of the city of San Diego, California , United States. The trip lasted exactly 4h24m, exactly the scheduled time.

This test will serve to technicians of the US space agency NASA to evaluate the thermal shell of the capsule behavior, parachutes, electronics and other equipment of five meters in diameter capsule.

This first flight cost the space agency US $ 370 million (300 million euros). “It is certainly the most important mission of NASA made this year”, said William Hill, deputy administrator of NASA for the development of operating systems. “It is truly the first step in our journey to Mars,” said, cited by AFP.

This capsule can take up to four astronauts for missions up to 21 days. The next release is scheduled for 2018, with a new rocket that is under development. In 2021, should be made the first manned flight, which may be a trip to the orbit of the Moon.

The last time that humanity walked on the moon was 42 years ago, in December 1972, the mission US Apollo 17, the last Apollo mission, which three years earlier had put the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong. Since then, no other mission put humans in another solar system body.

“The dawn of Orion,” the announcer NASA on Friday, while a deafening roar announced the take-off of the rocket carrying the first capsule into space. “It’s a new space age to the United States.”

News updated at 19h16.