Orion

[IndigoErth]

So NASA's Orion got up there on it's short test flight today and returned home safely. (Well, in the relative safety of the Pacific Ocean.)

Earlier this fall they invited people to submit their names which would go along with it on a microchip.

http://mars.nasa.gov/participate/sen...-first-flight/

Congratulations of Your First Test Flight on NASA's #JourneytoMars!

Thanks to people worldwide for coming aboard Orion's Flight Test, December 5, 2014.

With one 4½-hour flight Friday, the new spacecraft series that NASA hopes will take astronauts to Mars passed its first test above Earth.

Though Orion's first flight didn't have people on it, it didn't go up empty. It carried the names of more than a million people packed on a dime-sized microchip.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/05/tech/i...-orion-launch/

"1379961 Boarding Passes Submitted"

Any "fellow travelers" here? Albeit "passengers" are only on board in spirit.


NASA via Facebook:

Spoiler:

"A camera in the window of NASA's Orion spacecraft looks back at Earth during its unpiloted flight test in orbit."
Photo Credit: NASA Television

http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=6749
http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=6748