NASA's Orion Spacecraft Launch

The unmanned capsule took off from Florida and travelled the farthest away from Earth since Apollo 17 in 1972!

1. The Orion Spacecraft gets ready for take off.

After 42 years, NASA have launched a space capsule designed to carry astronauts far beyond Earth. The unmanned craft took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Picture: PA
2. The Orion Spacecraft travelled 14 times farther from Earth than the International Space Station.

Apollo 17 was the last spacecraft designed for astronauts that travelled that far. And that was 42 years ago! Picture: PA
3. Is there life on Mars?

The answer is not as far as we know, but there might have been in the past and there might be again in the future. Mars is the planet we know of that's most likely to have had some kind of life at some point. The now dry 'rivers' and chasms tell us that at some point Mars might have had water on its surface, not dissimilar to our rivers, seas and lakes system. Picture: PA
4. The Orion Spacecraft travelled 3,600 miles from Earth!

The Orion Spacecraft travelled 3,600 miles from Earth and the flight took 4.5 hours. Picture: PA
5. It was Orion's first test flight….

This was the very first test flight undertaken by Orion. It was called 'Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1)'. Picture: PA
6. …and it won't be its last!

Before humans will be able to fly in the Orion, the spacecraft will have to go through more test flights to make sure it's properly tested. Picture: PA
7. Crowds gather to watch the capsule take off.

Crowds gather in Florida to see the Orion capsule take off. Picture: PA

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