New spaceship Orion is `` go '' for test flight . Four and half hours later , it will splash down in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles off the coast of Baja California . Launch is set for 7 a.m . ET Thursday . The first stage of the rocket will be used to launch a capsule carrying astronauts into space on an unmanned mission in late 2018 or early 2019.
New spaceship Orion is `` go '' for test flight . Launch is set for 7 a.m . ET Thursday . The first stage of the rocket will be used to launch a capsule carrying astronauts into space on an unmanned mission in late 2018 or early 2019.