Exploration Flight Test-1

<p>Exploration Flight Test-1 or EFT-1 (previously known as Orion Flight Test 1 or OFT-1) was a technology demonstration mission and the first flight test of the <a href="/facts/Orion_(spacecraft)/nh8VQRpD">crew module</a> portion of the <a href="/facts/Orion_(spacecraft)/nh8VQRpD">Orion spacecraft</a>. Without a crew, it was launched on 5 December 2014 at 12:05 <a href="/facts/UTC/2EnjfSyu">UTC</a> (7:05 am <a href="/facts/Eastern_Standard_Time/jP4S8j1V">EST</a>, local time at the launch site) by a <a href="/facts/Delta_IV_Heavy/hLQT6QQG">Delta IV Heavy</a> rocket from <a href="/facts/Cape_Canaveral_Air_Force_Station_Space_Launch_Complex_37/bGEN3MjW">Space Launch Complex 37B</a> at the <a href="/facts/Cape_Canaveral_Air_Force_Station/dwJ9MCPH">Cape Canaveral Air Force Station</a>.
</p><p>The mission was a four-hour, two-orbit test of the Orion crew module featuring a high <a href="/facts/Apsis/VaL6ow9w">apogee</a> on the second orbit and concluding with a high-energy <a href="/facts/Atmospheric_entry/p7TMk9sa">reentry</a> at around 8.9 kilometers per second (20,000 mph). This mission design corresponds to the <a href="/facts/AS-102/grXVb3CS">Apollo 2/3</a> missions of 1966, which validated the Apollo flight control system and <a href="/facts/Heat_shield/YvRhkzAz">heat shield</a> at re-entry conditions planned for the return from lunar missions.
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Exploration Flight Test-1 open-in-new

Exploration Flight Test-1