On this special episode of Talking Space, we look at the launch of Orion, NASA's next manned capsule, and its unmanned maiden voyage on EFT-1. We discuss the mission itself from scrubs on December 4th all the way through a successful launch and landing in the early morning of December 5th. We look in depth at the mission itself, the goals it was to accomplish, and even analyze the NASA TV coverage of the event, which included live views of re-entry from a drone as well as onboard the capsule. We try to put to bed the comparisons between Apollo 4 and EFT-1 with the help of NASA's Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer. We also talk to a few NASA astronauts who are working on making Orion possible. Plus, as always with these launches, we have the raw launch audio as heard from just a few miles away, so get out your best headphones or crank up your car speakers and get ready for a wild ride.

We also take a look at a few other newsworthy stories for the week including some findings about Gale Crater on Mars, the future of Cygnus and Antares after the Orb-3 explosion, and SpaceX's upcoming mission which will land the first stage back on a barge.

Show recorded: 12/9/2014