The Orion Spacecraft moves by the Vehicle Assembly Building on its approximately 22 mile journey from the Launch Abort System Facility at the Kennedy Space Center to Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The test flight for Orion is scheduled to launch on Dec. 4. APNASA's new Orion spacecraft will bolt off a launch pad in Florida early next month in what could be the first step toward the human exploration of Mars.
The gum-drop shaped capsule will briefly orbit Earth, then parachute into the Pacific, where it will be retrieved by a Navy ship from San Diego.
But will anyone care?
Three years after the U.S. space shuttle program ended, NASA is struggling to grab and hold the public's attention as it introduces its next-generation manned spacecraft, a vehicle that has cost at least $6.1 billion to develop so far.
For the moment, the space agency doesn't have a compelling human story to tell about the launch, which is set for Dec. 4. Space experts said it will be six to seven years before Orion actually carries astronauts. Tight budgets, design issues and policy questions have slowed the program's development. As a result, NASA doesn't have definitive plans and clear time tables for manned trips to the moon, an asteroid or Mars.
Some analysts also said NASA has not made a strong case for sending humans to Mars, a planet already being explored by rovers and satellites.
The space agency realizes it has problems, and they're not limited to Orion.
'A lot of people think that NASA doesn't even exist anymore because the space shuttle was retired,' astronaut Chris Cassidy told U-T San Diego in July. 'We have to beat the drum loud and clear and say, 'No, we're doing good things, we're doing science, we're on the space station and we've got this plan to get ourselves out of low-Earth orbit.'
Connecting with the public about Orion won't be easy,' said Francis French, a space author-historian and the education director for the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
'I think NASA is really hoping that the public will see this flight as the first step to sending humans into deep space for the first time in four decades, then onward to Mars,' said French, who visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on business this month. 'However, an un-crewed mission, with the possibility of large gaps between subsequent flights, is going to be a difficult one for keeping public interest.
'It's a shame the public doesn't see what NASA is doing every day - not only with incredible robotic missions on Mars, but also with Americans working every single day on the International Space Station in partnership with spacefarers of other nations.'
NASA regularly sends astronauts to the space station. But life aboard the outpost, along with the launches and homecomings, gets comparatively little news coverage.
The stories that do capture prominent attention are usually very human and relatable. For example, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield captivated the public by floating around inside the space station, strumming a guitar and singing a cover version of David Bowie's melancholy song 'Space Oddity.'
It was the kind of crooning people do in the shower, and it became a hit. A video of Hadfield's performance has generated nearly 24 million views on YouTube.
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