NASA test flight still on track despite accidents

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's biggest test flight in years remains on track for next month, despite last week's space-related accidents.

Officials said today everything looks good for the Dec. 4 launch of NASA's new Orion capsule. This one will not carry a crew. Future Orions are meant to carry astronauts on missions of deep-space exploration.

The spacecraft will blast off atop a Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral. The brief flight will send it 3,600 miles into space before parachuting into the Pacific Ocean.

William Hill, who helps run exploration systems development for NASA, says the test flight systems have nothing in common with either the Orbital Sciences rocket that blew up at liftoff on Oct. 28 or the Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two destroyed in flight last Friday.