[Tim Sharp]

One of our mechanical mentors is an inspector for ULA. The Delta IV rockets used in the mission don't leave the factory floor without his approval.

He sent me the following info to distribute. I hope you find it helpful.



This week, a Delta IV Heavy rocket will launch the Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) mission for NASA, the first flight of the Orion Spacecraft. The launch is targeted for 7:05 a.m. EST this Thursday, December 4th, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.



The Delta IV Heavy rocket was built at the United Launch Alliance Decatur, Alabama factory. With over 800 employees from North Alabama, Southern Tennessee and Northern Mississippi, there are hundreds of students with a direct connection to this flight through parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or other relatives and friends.



Please take the opportunity to help all of your students learn about this historic flight of the Orion capsule, which will travel to an altitude of 3,600 miles, more than 15 times farther than the International Space Station’s orbit! NASA is testing Orion’s performance in deep space and its return through Earth’s atmosphere.



The ULA website is a good starting point for information about the launch – www.ulalaunch.com



There is a wonderful animated video explaining the purpose of the mission at - http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/11/08...t-1-animation/



After the launch, look for the launch video on the Space Vids channel on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/SpaceVidsNet



The NASA website should continue to add multimedia as well - http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/index.html



ULA will post launch updates on https://www.facebook.com/ulalaunch, and retweet the launch broadcast on Twitter; hashtags #Orion and #DeltaIV.



Thank you for teaching our children about this mission and the next steps to human exploration in space!