The capsule will complete two orbits around the planet

Mar 21, 2012 15:55 GMT  ·  By

When the first Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) launches to orbit, it will climb to more than 3,600 miles (5,793 kilometers), marking the highest altitude reached by a manned spacecraft since the Apollo Program. This test flight is scheduled to take place in early 2014, NASA announced recently.

The video above details how the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission should occur. There is a lot hanging in the balance with this new spacecraft, since it represents America's only existing bet at reaching a near-Earth asteroid by 2025, and landing on the Red Planet by 2035.

During its first mission, it will be delivered to space aboard a Delta 4 Heavy booster rocket. If all goes according to plan, starting in 2017, it will be transported by the new Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift delivery system, currently in the earliest stages of development.

EFT-1 will see the first Orion complete two full orbits around the planet, at an altitude about 15 times higher than that of the International Space Station, Universe Today reports.