NASA is preparing for the maiden test flight of its Orion crew vehicle — scheduled to take place on 4 December. In a video released by the US space agency, NASA engineer Kelly Smith said: “Before we can send astronauts into space on Orion, we have to test all of its systems; and there’s only one way to know if we got it right — fly it in space.”

Orion is now in the final stages of preparation for the unmanned flight that will take it 3,600 miles above the Earth on a 4.5hr mission to test many of the systems necessary for future human missions into deep space.

The spacecraft will make two orbits of the Earth and then re-enter the atmosphere at almost 20,000mph before being slowed down by its parachute system for a splash-down in the Pacific Ocean. The Delta IV Heavy rocket (pictured) has already been put in position at the launch pad; the Orion capsule will be transported to the pad around 10 November.