NASA postponed the Orion test flight until Friday, Dec. 5. (NASA/Kim Shiflett)

Orion test flight, take two. After a valve malfunction and some windy weather prompted NASA to cancel today’s launch, the agency said it would aim for Friday morning, 7 a.m. Eastern time, for its next attempt.

“Our plan is to fly tomorrow,” Orion Project Manager Mark Geyer said during a press briefing.

Dan Collins, chief operating officer of United Launch Alliance, whose Delta IV Heavy rocket was to carry Orion into space, explained the potential timeline. Essentially, that particular rocket can attempt launch two of any three days because of what he described as the commodities used to fuel it. “It’s only an 850,000 gallon liquid hydrogen tank, so we’ve got to fill it back up if we’ve gone twice,” he said.

NASA scrapped today’s launch try after a trio of issues postponed liftoff. First, a boat ended up in the prohibited zone, then wind gusts came on stronger than were expected. Finally, two liquid hydrogen valves wouldn’t seal properly. NASA made the call to scrub the mission for today approximately five minutes before the launch window closed at 9:44 a.m. Eastern time.

Wind could hamper tomorrow’s launch, too. “The wind is important,” Collins said. “It does push the rocket as you’re coming up off the launch pad. There are structures near the rocket that need to be there to accommodate the launch and you don’t want to get pushed into those.”

Despite today’s minor setback, officials with NASA and Lockheed Martin, which built Orion, said they were satisfied with how Orion performed when it transferred to battery power. “The spacecraft worked extremely well,” said Lockheed Martin’s Mike Hawes. “The systems did just like the simulators told us they’d do.”

When asked about the price of a delay like today’s, Collins confirmed that of course there is one. However, “the cost of that pales in comparison to trying to fly when the rocket is telling you 'I’m not quite ready,'” he said.

Orion’s objective on this unmanned test flight is to assess the crew module, its parachutes, its heat shield — really anything related to its ability to protect the astronauts that will someday fly inside. Once Airborne, it’ll fly 3,600 miles above the Earth, eventually splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

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The ESO 3.6-meter telescope at La Silla observatory in Chile, during observations. (ESO/S. Brunier)