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An undated handout picture made available by NASA on 30 September 2014 shows the three primary core elements of the ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket, which have been recently integrated, forming the first stage of the launch vehicle that will send Orion far from Earth to allow NASA to evaluate the spacecraft's performance in space, at the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA. The three common booster cores are 40.8 meters in length and 5.18 meters in diameter. Each has an RS-68 engine that uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant producing 297,556 kilograms of thrust. All totaled, the three Delta IV boosters collectively generate 889,041 kilograms of thrust. The upcoming flight test will use the Delta IV Heavy to launch the Orion and send it 5,793 kilometers in altitude beyond the Earth's surface. During the two-orbit, four-hour mission, engineers will evaluate the systems critical to crew safety, the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The data gathered during the mission will influence design decisions and validate existing computer models. The flight also will reduce overall mission risks and costs for later Orion flights. (Photo by Ben Smegelsky/EPA/NASA)
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