Orion hoisted atop Delta IV

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Orion spacecraft is at its launch pad after completing its penultimate journey in the early hours Wednesday. It arrived at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 3:07 a.m. EST, where the spacecraft then was lifted onto a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket in preparation for its first trip to space. Orion will travel almost 60,000 miles into space Dec. 4 during an unmanned flight designed to test many of the spacecraft's systems before it begins carrying astronauts on missions to deep space. (Source: NASA, 11/12/14) Gulf Coast note: Orion was built at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans; the Delta IV is powered by Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68 tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.