The view from space at 20,000mph and 4,000°F: Orion captures the flames of its re-entry as it returns from furthest, fastest NASA capsule mission since Apollo era. Next stop Mars?

The U.S. Navy pulled up in a pair of ships to recover the spacecraft and transport it to San Diego, 630 miles away. 

Orion ended up just 1½ miles from the predicted splashdown spot. 

Only two of the parachutes could be recovered.

Once ashore, Orion will be transported by truck back to Cape Canaveral, just in time for Christmas.

It is supposed to soar again in 2017 in a launch abort test, followed by a second Orion heading to space in 2018 aboard the megarocket under development by NASA. 

Officials expect it will be at least seven years from now — 2021 — before Orion carries people, given present budget constraints.

Four hours and five minutes after launching, Orion exited the intense radiation of the Van Allen belts, its cameras were turned on and it prepared for re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

This was the major test for the spacecraft; Nasa needed to know the heat shield could cope with the extreme condtions of re-entry when returning from future missions to the moon, an asteroid or Mars.

Eight and a half minutes after leaving the belts, Orion reached the upper limits of Earth's atmosphere and began to generate heat as it passed through at about 20,000mph (32,000 km/h), with its thrusters maintaining control and keeping its heat shield pointing down.

Just a few seconds later, as planned, the flight control team lost contact with Orion for about 2.5 minutes as a superheated plasma formed around the capsule, blocking signals in and out.

Orion then experienced the hottest period of its return through the atmosphere with its heat shield reaching temperatures approaching 2,200°C (4,000°F), twice as hot as molten lava, and g-forces of about eight Gs.

Heading through the atmosphere also slowed the spacecraft drastically, from 20,000mph (32,000 km/h) to just 300mph (480 km/h).

The spacecraft passed this test without a hitch. After travelling through the atmosphere for more than four minutes, the spacecraft jettisoned its forward bay cover.

This had on it the tiles that protect Orion from the heat of re-entry. The tiles dissipate heat away from the spacecraft and ensure the temperatures stay habitable.

The forward bay cover had three parachutes of its own that lowered it to the Pacific Ocean safely.

A couple of seconds after it jettisoned the cover, Orion deployed two drogue parachutes that slowed the spacecraft, which was travelling at 300mph (480 km/h) at the time.

A minute later, three pilot parachutes then pulled the three massive main parachutes out - which would cover the size of a football field.

These slowed Orion from about 100mph (160km/h) to less than 20mph (30km/h).

And finally, four hours, 23 minutes and 29 seconds after launching, Orion landed in the Pacific Ocean 275 miles (442 km) west of Baja, California.

Airbags deployed to keep the spacecraft upright, in a position known as 'Stable 1'. Stable 2 would have meant it was upside down, while Stable 3 would mean it is on its side.

Three of the five airbags on board fully deployed, one partially deployed and the other didn't seem to deploy. However, these were enough to keep the spacecraft upright.

This is important for future missions, as if it does not stay upright then getting the astronauts out is much more difficult, and potentially dangerous. 

Orion ultimately will be pulled to the deck of the ship USS Anchorage by a combined Nasa and US Navy team, bringing to an end the mission that has taken the first step towards Mars.

Down to Earth: Orion had a rapid re-entry into the atmosphere at speeds close to 32,000km/h (20,000mph), according to Nasa

7.01am EST All launch teams give the 'GO' for liftoff.

7.05am EST Liftoff. Orion's Delta IV Heavy rocket blasts off from the launchpad in a cloud of smoke and flame.

7.06am EST Nasa mission control reports that Orion has cleared the service tower as the swing arms connected to the rocket swiveled backward out of its way.

7.07am EST Orion enters the area of maximum dynamic pressure, the point when the aerodynamic forces of launch are at their greatest.

7.07am EST The Delta IV Heavy and Orion go supersonic.

7.09am EST The port and starboard booster rockets burn through their entire fuel supplies and separate four minutes and 10 seconds into the flight.

7.10am EST The second stage of the Delta IV rocket takes over as the first stage falls away five minutes and 43 seconds after launch.

7.12am EST Four panels that provided structural support around Orion's service module through the early phases of launch are jettisoned.

7.12am EST Shortly after the white tower and dome structure over the Orion capsule, known as the Launch Abort System, fired rockets to pull away from the rocket to leave Orion exposed. In future manned missions this will provide an emergency escape mechanism during launch.

7.19am EST Orion reaches 15,000 mph as it soars towards the start of its orbit.

7.23am EST The second stage engine of the Delta IV cuts off, leaving the spacecraft to coast for 97 minutes towards its first orbit of the Earth. During this time flight controllers evaluate telemetry data.

7.24am EST Orion and the second stage rocket enter gentle roll to help distribute heat around the spacecraft as it begins orbiting the Earth.

8.56am EST Orion finishes its first orbit of the Earth.

9.01am EST The second stage rocket reignites to push Orion out to an altitude of 3,600 miles above the Earth. It creates 24,750 pounds and the burn lasts for four minutes and 42 seconds.

9.05am EST The second stage engine cuts off but remains attached along with the service module until three hours 9 minutes into the mission.

9.11am EST Orion enters the lower Van Allen belt, the area of space around the Earth that contains intense levels of radiation, after two hours and five minutes of flight.

9.26am EST Orion leaves the Van Allen Belt. Cameras on board were turned off to protect them from the high energy radiation, which will pose a significant threat to astronauts leaving Earth on future missions to Mars or an asteroid. Orion has been packed with 1,200 sensors to measure conditions inside the capsule during the test flight to see what it would be like for humans.

9.37am EST Orion reaches more than 2,100 miles above Earth as it travels out towards its peak altitude

9.56am EST US Navy and Nasa recovery teams deploy off the coast of California in preparation for splashdown as Orion crosses the 3,000-mile altitude mark.

10.13am EST Orion reaches 3,604.2 miles above the Earth and begins heading back towards the surface at 20,000 mph. The capsule encounters more than eight times the force of gravity (8.2 Gs) during re-entry.

10.13am EST Nasa flight controllers activate the spacecraft's reaction control system thrusters to steer the spacecraft as it descends.

10.23am EST Orion and the Delta IV Heavy second stage rocket adjusted their positioning so the crew module can separate safely.

10.29am EST The Delta IV rocket and Orion's service module separate, leaving Orion's crew module on its own for the first time. On board computers make adjustments to control its flight path as it prepares to begin its re-entry.

The first attempt to launch the Orion Space Capsule on Thursday had to be abandoned after a rogue boat in the area, wind gusts and a faulty valve led the spacecraft to miss its launch window.

Automatic fault detection systems picked up a fault with the fill and drain valves in the fuel tanks of the Delta IV Heavy rocket, causing the countdown to be placed on hold.

Overnight Nasa engineers examined the rocket and found that the valves had malfunctioned due to the super-cold temperatures they were exposed to from the liquid hydrogen fuel.

The tanks were kept at -252°C (-423°F) to keep both the hydrogen and oxygen propellants in liquid form before they are combined and ignited with explosive force.

Exposed to these temperatures the valves essentially froze shut, leading to the £236m ($370 million) launch being postponed until Friday.

Nasa said that on Friday it implemented a procedure to open and close the valves several times to keep them from seizing up.

A spokesman told Mail Online: 'Managers and engineers determined that the fill and drain valves, which had been immersed in liquid hydrogen for more than two hours, became sluggish when subjected to the super-cold -423 degree Fahrenheit temperatures.

'After diagnosing the issue, a procedure was implemented today to open and close the valves several times to ensure they did not become sluggish.

'The plan worked and all the valves performed flawlessly today.' 

A 'new Apollo'? Orion bears a strong resemblance to the Apollo command module that carried Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon in 1969, but it is bristling with the latest technology that makes it markedly different

The Orion space capsule will enable Nasa to send its own astronauts into space for the first time since the Space Shuttle programme was scrapped.

But the next-generation vehicle will also herald a new era of space travel as it has been designed to carry humans to land on asteroids and even to other worlds.

Ultimately Nasa hopes Orion will allow astronauts to make the first manned journey to Mars.

Perhaps understandably the development of Orion has helped reawaken some of the atmosphere of excitement that surrounded Nasa during the Apollo missions that first landed mankind on the moon.

But with almost exactly 42 years between the last Apollo mission, Apollo 17, which launched on 7 December 1972, and the first flight of Orion, the technology has moved on considerably.

On the surface the two space capsules look the same - they are cone-shaped, and have a large heat shield to protect the astronauts from the intense conditions during re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere.

However, Orion is larger, capable of carrying four crew members rather than Apollo's three. It will also have to carry far more supplies than Apollo ever did.

The last Apollo mission saw a two man crew spend just three days on the moon's surface while a mission to an asteroid or to Mars could see astronauts spending up to 450 days in space.

Like the Apollo Command Module, Orion has a Service Module attached that houses a single large engine, batteries and storage.

However, Orion will carry a pair of solar arrays to help keep the capsule powered in space - technology that Apollo did not use.

Orion also uses up-to-date computers, electronics, life support and propulsion systems. The electronics also have a far more sophisticated radiation shielding than the Apollo modules.

Nasa has also used some hard lessons to improve the heat shield. Measuring 16.5 feet (five metres) across, it is the largest heat shield ever built for a spacecraft and has been covered in a new material called Avcoat.

Nasa has also improved the parachutes, once used to land the Apollo spacecraft and slow the Space Shuttle, to help Orion land more safely in the water when it splashes down after a mission.

Can we survive a trip to Mars? Pictured is the surface of the red planet, as seen by the Viking I Lander

Scientists hope Orion will return humans to the moon by 2020 and transport the first visitors to Mars in the 2030s.

But the 140 million-mile (225 million km) journey to Mars will involve extreme hazards threatening the lives of astronauts.

Space is filled with dangerous radiation that the Earth's atmosphere shields us from. The greatest threat comes from high energy streams of subatomic particles pouring out of the sun that can damage DNA, leading to cancer.

How big is the radiation risk? 

Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover was hit by 0.66 sieverts of radiation during its 253-day trip to Mars. That's the equivalent of receiving a whole body CT X-ray scan every five or six days.

Intense bursts of radiation and particles erupting from the sun, in large solar flares or coronal mass ejections, have the power to disrupt electrical equipment and deliver potentially lethal doses. Radiation shielding coating the spacecraft can offer some protection.

Is there a danger of being hit by a meteorite?

Big and small rocks are continually flying around the Solar System, millions of which go undetected. On a long journey through space the risk of being hit is not negligible, and even a tiny meteorite could wreak unimaginable damage.

Bigger objects can be steered around if detected in advance, and Nasa has been developing armour-like materials and double-layer walls to protect against smaller objects.

How easy is it to land on Mars?

The answer is, not easy at all, which is why so many Mars missions have failed. Overall the success rate of landing on Mars is only about 50 per cent.

This is one area where it pays off to have humans on board rather than relying on computers. During the Apollo moon missions, Nasa never lost a single lander, despite some very close shaves. Mars is much more challenging, though, because it has an atmosphere and appreciable gravity. 

How bad is a Mars trip for your health?

Without gravity, bones become brittle and muscles start to waste away. There is also evidence that gravity affects the way the brain works.

The astronauts will have to undergo strict exercise regimes to make up for the lack of gravity. Another solution would be to provide at least some degree of artificial gravity by spinning the spacecraft as it travels.

Psychological health is considered a very imported issue for long distance space travellers. The astronauts will need to be mentally tough to cope with being so far from home in the knowledge that so far out in space there can be no hope of rescue. 

Why go to Mars at all?

Many experts say only so much can be done with robots. Humans are just so much better at finding and selecting samples, and spotting the unexpected. Others argue that it will inspire children and unite humanity in a common adventure.

Some say that confining ourselves to a planet with limited resources is simply not an option if the human race is to survive.

Technicians pack bags to be placed into Orion's stowage lockers with items from Sesame Street including a cookie belonging to Cookie Monster, Ernie's rubber duck, Grover's cape and Slimey the Worm

Nasa packed its Orion space capsule with experiments and sensor designed to measure the conditions inside the vehicle.

However, also hitching a ride 3,600 miles (5,800km) above Earth were a Captain Kirk toy, a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil and some Sesame Street puppets.

They are all part of a weird collection of artefacts, celebrity photos and memorabilia that had been placed inside Orion's storage lockers.

Nasa also placed a tiny sample of lunar soil, along with a fossil from a Tyrannosaurus rex donated by the Denver Science Museum, into the capsule.

A microchip carrying the names of more than a million people who submitted their names were also carried onboard.

Lockheed Martin, the main contractor on Orion, worked with the Entertainment Industries Council to collect items from science fiction-related celebrities to place on Orion.

William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series and is a noted space enthusiast, supplied an action figure of 'Captain Kirk in Environmental Suit'.

'William Shatner is thrilled to send Kirk back to space and support Orion, while inspiring future generations about space travel,' EIC vice president Skylar Jackson told collectSPACE .

Director Jon Favreau offered an Iron Man challenge coin while Back to the Future actress Claudia Wells provided signed cast photos and a Delorean time machine model.

Mayim Bialik, from The Big Bang Theory, also gave pictures of her ancestors. A collection of pins, medals and artworks will also be carried in the Orion lockers.

Also among the cargo were props from Sesame Street including a cookie belonging to Cookie Monster, Ernie's rubber duck, Oscar the Grouch's pet Slimey the Worm and Grover's cape.

When they return to Earth they will take prized spots on the long-running television programme in a bid to educate millions of children about space.

In a statement on its website, Nasa said: 'Together, the artifacts chart humanity's progress and technological advancement as the nation takes a critical step forward on the Journey to Mars.'

Carrying commemorative cargo into space, however, is not a new tradition and has been done since the very early age of space flight.

Nasa's Mercury astronauts carried dimes in their spacesuits while astronauts on the Apollo missions carried photos and specially stamped envelopes.

The Voyager spacecraft have also carried gold discs featuring sounds of Earth along with a range of other information while the Curiosity rover on Mars carried a penny to calibrate its instruments.