It 's the biggest countdown for NASA since the shuttle era ended in 2011 . The space agency 's new Orion spacecraft is scheduled to lift off on an uncrewed test flight at 7:05 a.m . ET Thursday from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral , Florida . `` We have n't had this feeling in awhile , since the end of the shuttle program , '' Mike Sarafin , Orion flight director at Johnson Space Center , said in a preflight briefing on Wednesday . He said it 's the beginning of something new : exploring deep space . Orion looks like a throwback to the Apollo era , but it is roomier and designed to go far beyond the moon : to an asteroid and eventually to Mars . `` It is , I think , consistent with those -- the beginning of shuttle and beginning of Apollo , '' said Mark Geyer , NASA Orion program manager . `` I think it 's in the same category . '' When it becomes fully operational , Orion 's crew module will be able to carry four people on a 21-day mission into deep space or six astronauts for shorter missions . By comparison , the Apollo crew modules held three astronauts and were in space for six to 12 days . Orion 's crew module is 16.5 feet in diameter and Apollo was 12.8 feet in diameter , NASA said . Orion is expected to take up its first crew in 2021 . During this test flight , Orion will climb to an altitude of 3,600 miles ( 15 times higher than the International Space Station ) and will orbit Earth twice . Four and half hours later , it will splash down in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles off the coast of Baja California . Two U.S. Navy ships , the amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage and the Military Sealift Command rescue and salvage ship USNS Salvor , will help NASA recover the capsule . NASA said there have n't been any major issues with the countdown . The vehicle is `` extremely clean '' and `` we 're ready to go , '' said Geyer . The weather forecast for liftoff also is good , with a 70 % chance of acceptable launch conditions , according to Kathy Winters , a U.S. Air Force weather officer . `` It looks pretty promising weather-wise for launch , '' she said . Charles Bolden Op Ed : NASA 's Mars milestone . Winters said there may be some scattered clouds , but because the launch window will be open for two hours and 39 minutes , mission managers have some wiggle room if rain moves in . The temperature at launch time should be around 72 degrees Fahrenheit . With mostly clear skies in the forecast , residents along Florida 's east coast should be able to see the contrail from the huge Delta IV Heavy rocket that will carry Orion into orbit . The rocket is provided by United Launch Alliance , one of the private partners helping NASA with this launch . Eventually , NASA will use its own Space Launch System , which is under construction . Once in orbit , Orion should send back some amazing pictures of Earth , NASA said . If the weather cooperates , NASA said a drone will provide a live video feed of the splashdown . Though Orion 's first flight wo n't have people on it , it wo n't go up empty . It will carry the names of more than a million people packed on a dime-sized microchip . `` Sesame Street '' is sending up some mementos to inspire students about spaceflight , including Cookie Monster 's cookie and Ernie 's rubber ducky . Also going up : an oxygen hose from an Apollo 11 lunar spacesuit and a small sample of lunar soil . A Tyrannosaurus rex fossil from the Denver Science Museum will be on board and lockers will be filled with flags , coins , patches , poetry and music . In one more throwback to the Apollo-era , NASA veteran Gene Kranz will be a VIP in Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston when Orion is launched . Kranz was flight director for Apollo 11 during the first landing on the moon and he was flight director for the return of the Apollo 13 crew . `` I look forward very much to having him watch the team in action , '' Serafin said .
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.