Orion is Back on Earth
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: It's really interesting, too, because what we're going to see happen is a recovery mission that looks a lot -- if you were alive back then in the '60s and '70s, you might just remember the way the spacecraft, like the Apollo, the capsules, when they would have these water landings. Why don't we listen in to NASA right now and we can listen and watch this unfold.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Orion is back on Earth. America has driven a golden spike as it crosses a bridge into the future. And we now have confirmation that Orion is stable, upright. Orion splashdown at a mission elapse time of 4:24.</s>PEREIRA:  A 4: 24 flight. Supposed to land -- splashdown west of Baja, California, Alina. We know this was a test flight. They're looking at testing some of the modules and equipment on board. Testing out the heat shield, correct?</s>ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is really all about testing Orion, seeing what -- how it handles getting out of the earth's atmosphere and returning into the earth's atmosphere. Early on NASA was giving every indication that this has been a successful flight. They were able to test successfully the launch board system, which is a special part of Orion that would basically, at some point, when we get humans on board, would be able to take the astronauts away from the rockets if there's any sort of problem during a launch, after liftoff. They also tested Orion as it was going through Van Allen Belt, which are this area of extreme radiation that typically interferes with computers. Then as you mentioned that heat she would that is so critical. Think about it. When it's coming back into the earth's atmosphere, Orion is facing temperatures of about 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. So this heat shield is essential in protecting the capsule and the people who could one day be inside. Fahrenheit. But every indication seems to be this has been a success, Michaela.</s>PEREIRA: It's been important because, again, they're going -- the goal of there flight, its first trip to space in this new Orion capsule, they were going to a peak altitude of about 5,800 kilometers. 15 times higher than the international space station is currently. You're looking there at a live look. They have helicopters that will be perusing the ocean. The Navy will be involved in this recovery operation. They'll keep an eye out to see where the splashdown occurs. They will then go and grab on to this. It's a recovery mission, essentially, on that water landing. They will find the capsule, they'll tow it, and it will be boarded on to a Navy transport ship. It will head to San Diego and we're told it will take a truck ride, essentially, back to Florida. But talking about the operation in outer space, this is sort of one of those far-reaching kind of ideas. They're testing it here because the goal is to eventually do this human flight, first crude flight perhaps to orbit the moon but then potentially maybe even hook up with an asteroid which I find so mind-boggling.</s>MACHADO: When you really talk about the goals of Orion it's hard to wrap your head around these goals, right? I mean, think about landing on an asteroid or redirecting an asteroid to a lunar orbit. Things like that that it's really remarkable to even think that it would be possible but NASA says that is the goal here. The ultimate goal would be to take astronauts someday to mars. Think about that. So, yeah, it's definitely the next era for the space exploration program here at NASA. That's the emphasis here that the reason why this is just so significant is because this test flight, yeah, it was a test flight and, yeah, it was just about four hours of a flight. But it's significant because it's the first step toward that goal of going to an asteroid and going to Mars. And just in case you're wondering, the next step here, they're going to take all the data from this test flight, name tweaks necessary, there's going to be a second unmanned test flight of Orion some time in 2018. That flight, the big difference is going to be it's going to be on an SLS rocket which is a special rocket NASA is developing right now, and then ultimately they could have a crude mission some time in 2021 and they're thinking -- they're aiming for the mid-2030s in terms of a mission for Mars.</s>PEREIRA: I was just doing my math quickly. I think I'll be too old to go but maybe Alina you might volunteer. That sounds like quite an interesting assignment. Alina Machado, thank you so much. Again, Orion set to splash down in the Pacific about 600 miles off the coast of Baja. We're waiting for that moment. Quite an adventure and quite a mission. Ahead, we're going to look at this. They left their home countries to fight for ISIS. Some of them now, many, we're told, are regretting their decision. Apparently life with ISIS isn't quite what they thought it would be.