Three days and counting until a monumental NASA test flight that will send an un-crewed spacecraft further than one has gone in more than four decades.
Weather conditions remain good for Thursday's Orion test flight from Brevard County.
Forecasters said there's a 60 percent chance of favorable weather for the 7:05 a.m. launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. We will carry the launch LIVE.
Weather conditions remain the same if the launch is delayed until Friday.
During the two-orbit, 4.5-hour flight, the Orion spacecraft will fly 3,600 miles in altitude and travel nearly 60,000 miles before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. That's two Earth orbits and 15 times higher than the orbit of the International Space Station.
The spacecraft will be put through the dangerous rigors of space travel such as radiation to ensure the safety of crews who will be on board in the years to come.
"Some of these events are difficult, or even impossible, to test on the ground. So it's important to fly them," said Mark Geyer, Orion Program Manager.
Orion will endure temperatures of 4,000 degrees as it returns to Earth at 20,000 miles per hour.
"And then the landing and recovery systems, and the operations of the recovery itself are critical to reducing the risks and getting us in a good posture to put crew on this vehicle," said Lockheed Martin Mission Director Bryan Austin.
Crews will recover the capsule, then study the vast array of data sensors to see how it performed.
NASA said the mission will cost some $370 million.