NASA's Orion spacecraft hits high point of 3,600 miles above Earth

Cape Canaveral, Florida: NASA’s new Orion spacecraft has hit its intended high point of 3,600 miles above Earth, the farthest a spacecraft built for humans has traveled in four decades. Now its dramatic trip back to the planet awaits. [caption id=“attachment_1836571” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A NASA Orion capsule on top of a Delta IV rocket lifts off on its first unmanned orbital test flight. AP[/caption] The capsule reached peak altitude of 3,604 miles (5,800 kilometers) three hours after Friday morning’s liftoff from Cape Canaveral on an unmanned test flight. It’s the farthest a spacecraft designed for humans has flown since Apollo 17 — NASA’s final moon shot — flew 42 years ago. NASA needed to send Orion that high in order to set the capsule up for a 20,000-mph (32,200-kph), 4,000-degree (2,200-Celsiu) entry over the Pacific. Engineers want to see how the heat shield holds up before putting humans on board. AP