#SpaceSaturday: A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy #rocket #launched #NASA’s #Orion #spacecraft on Exploration Flight Test 1, or #EFT1.
The Delta IV Heavy was chosen as the post powerful and compatible rocket for the Orion test capsule, since its upper stage, the Delta Cryogenic Second Stage, serves as the basis for the Interim Cryogenic Upper Stage on the #SLS #rocket.
The #Delta4 could lift the capsule into a trajectory that would cause it to re-enter the atmosphere at similar velocities as a lunar return, proving the heat shield, parachutes, and landing systems.
It also verified the #LaunchAbortSystem disposal and fairing jettison.
#Delta4, #Delta4Heavy, #ExplorationFlightTest1, #RocketLaunch, #DeltaCryogenicSecondStage, #DCSS, #InterimCryogenicUpperStage, #ICUS, #UnitedLaunchAlliance, #ULA
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