Orion capsule set to blast off from Cape Canaveral

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Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches Friday, December 5, 2014 at launch complex 37B at Cape Canaveral. (Red Huber / Orlando Sentinel)

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Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches Friday, December 5, 2014 at launch complex 37B at Cape Canaveral. (Red Huber / Orlando Sentinel)

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The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASAs Orion spacecraft lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37 at at 7:05 a.m. EST, on December 5, 2014, in Florida. (Bill Ingalls / AFP / Getty Images)

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Orion team members are seen in this long exposure photograph watching the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASAs Orion spacecraft lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37 at at 7:05 a.m. EST, on December 5, 2014, in Florida. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)

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A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket carrying NASA’s first Orion deep space exploration craft sits on its launch pad as it is prepared for launch on December 4, 2014 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Tourists stand on the original Apollo 1 launch pad overlooking the Delta IV Heavy rocket with the Orion spacecraft on Space Launch Complex 37B pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida December 1, 2014. REUTERS/Scott Audette (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY SOCIETY) ORG XMIT: SAA01 (SCOTT AUDETTE / REUTERS)

By Scott Powers and Marco Santana

Dec. 4, 2014 5:23 AM PT

Orlando Sentinel

reporting from Kennedy Space Center — Atop the most powerful rocket available, NASA’s next-generation space capsule Orion is scheduled to launch this morning from Cape Canaveral Air Station.

The planned 4:05 a.m. PST blast-off was delayed first because of a boat in a restricted area that had to be moved and later because of ground wind gusts. Liftoff was rescheduled for 4:55 a.m. but delayed again because the winds picked up.

Launch was then rescheduled for 5:26 a.m. PST.

Even so, NASA officials said they were confident that Orion, which has a two-hour, 40-minute launch window until 6:45 a.m. PST, would hurtle into space today.

In nearby Space View Park in Titusville, Fla., about 250 people were anxiously awaiting the start of the mission.

Hannah Marlow of Orlando said she made the trek to witness history. She said she hoped the launch would help encourage her generation to get involved in space.

“It’s a great moment for younger people,” said Marlow, 25.

The 4 1/2 hour, unmanned mission will give NASA a chance to test America’s new workhorse spacecraft. In coming decades, Orion is expected to carry astronauts deep into space: to the moon, asteroids, Mars and beyond.

This flight will give NASA and Orion’s builder, Lockheed-Martin, critical information about how Orion jettisons parts of the rocket as it goes up; how aviation controls and computers function; and how electronics hold up in deep-space radiation.

Also being closely watched will be how its heat shields work as re-entry temperatures reach 4,000 degrees; and if its three sets of parachutes make the landing safe enough for humans.

Orion is set to orbit Earth twice, swinging out to 3,600 miles away – farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans has gone since Apollo. From there it will reach a re-entry speed of 20,000 mph and splash down in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles west of Baja California, Mexico.

“Thursday is a huge day for us, flying Orion. It’s the beginning of exploration,’ said NASA Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer.

“A part of me hopes everything is perfect. We land, high-fives; everybody has a great time,” Geyer continued. “But really … we want to discover things that are beyond our modeling capability and beyond our expertise, so we can learn how to fix it.”

Orion’s launch may be drawing more attention than anything that has happened at Kennedy Space Center since the last space shuttle program’s last mission in July 2011. Journalists from around the world have gathered.

Area hotels reportedly have seen a significant spike in bookings.

Space industry insiders are as excited as anyone.

“Go, Big O, go!” said Ron Fortson, United Launch Alliance’s director of mission management

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