Exploration Flight Test-1 or EFT-1 (previously known as Orion Flight Test 1 or OFT-1) was
the first test flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle.
Without a crew, it was launched on December 5, 2014, at 12:05 UTC (7:05 am EST), by a
Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The mission was a four-hour, two-orbit test of the Orion crew module featuring a high
apogee on the second orbit and concluding with a high-energy reentry at around 20,000
miles per hour (32,000 km/h; 8,900 m/s).
This mission design corresponds to the Apollo 4 mission of 1967, which validated the Apollo
flight control system and heat shield at re-entry conditions planned for the return from lunar
missions.
NASA heavily promoted the mission, collaborating with Sesame Street and its characters to educate
children about the flight test and the Orion spacecraft.
== Objectives == The flight was intended to test various Orion
systems, including separation events, avionics, heat shielding, parachutes, and recovery operations
prior to its debut launch aboard the Space Launch System, currently scheduled for some
time in June 2020.
== Vehicle assembly == EFT-1 Orion was built by Lockheed Martin.
On June 22, 2012, the final welds of the EFT-1 Orion were completed at the Michoud Assembly
Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana.
It was then transported to Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Checkout Building, where the
remainder of the spacecraft was completed.
The Delta IV rocket was put in a vertical position on October 1, 2014, and Orion was
mated with the vehicle on November 11.
== Flight ==
The four-and-a-half-hour flight took the Orion spacecraft on two orbits of Earth.
Peak altitude was approximately 5,800 kilometres (3,600 mi).
The high altitude allowed the spacecraft to reach reentry speeds of up to 20,000 mph (32,000
km/h; 8,900 m/s), which exposed the heat shield to temperatures up to around 4,000 °F (2,200
°C).During the flight, the crew module, a structural representation of the service module,
a partial launch abort system containing only the jettison motor, and Orion-to-stage adapter
were evaluated.
The spacecraft remained attached to the Delta IV's upper stage until re-entry began and
relied on internal batteries for power rather than photovoltaic arrays, which were not contained
in the structural representation.
Data gathered from the test flight were analyzed by the critical design review (CDR) in April
2015.
After splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, crews recovered the EFT-1 Orion crew vehicle and
will outfit the capsule for an ascent abort test in 2017.
== Launch attempts ==
== Gallery