![Sophomore Mason Lee encompasses the persona of his character, Enjolras, during a rehearsal of Act One. I think [rehearsals are] going well and were very on track [with the squedule]... which is good, Student Assistant Director senior Neena Tavik, who is also playing Eponine, said. (Courtesy Sasha Rotton)](https://www.wjpitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/24466917-801C-45FE-A882-D818DABBDCB8-600x451.jpg)
![Since the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge in late March, federal law enforcement has began investigating what preceded the event. In a statement to CBS News, a spokesperson for the FBI said, [The] FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity. There is no other public information available and we will have no further comment. (Courtesy Isaac Smay via Flickr)](https://www.wjpitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/53619368036_399400003a_b-600x400.jpg)
On Friday, Nov. 28, NASA’s Orion spacecraft made strides that will greatly advance space travel. By venturing farther than any spacecraft has since the 1972 Apollo 17 moon mission, the shuttle’s trip propels space exploration closer to achieving missions deeper and deeper into space.
NASA’s next space travel goal is to land a ship on an asteroid, but ultimately plans to orchestrate missions to Mars in the 2030’s. According to the Washington Post, NASA’s spokesman Mike Curie called the Orion’s trip the dawn of a new era in space travel.
At 7:05 a.m. in Cape Canaveral, Fl, the astronaut-less Orion blasted off Earth’s surface. During its trip, the rocket orbited the earth two full times, then traveled 3600 feet above Earth- the highest space travel made for humans has gone in over 40 years. The Orion captured images that a Washington Post article deemed stunning, and these can be viewed on NASA’s website at http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/multimedia/imagegallery/Orion/index.html#.VImk8jHF8ud. The whole trip took just over four hours, as the Orion came safely back to Earth at 11:29 am, landing in the Pacific Ocean.
According to many involved, the trip went nearly perfectly.
Mark Geyer, an Orion program manager for NASA, described the trip as nearly flawless
After the Apollo mission in 1969, space travel remained at the orbital level of the International Space Station- until now. According to the Washington Post, the Orion’s mission went 15 times farther than this.
“Here we are again now — the United States [is] leading exploration out into the solar system,” said Geyer after viewing photos that the Orion took of Earth from space.
Sometime in the 2020’s, NASA plans to catch an asteroid using a robotic spacecraft and bring it into the moon’s orbit so it may join with the Orion, allowing astronauts to retrieve samples of an asteroid.
“It’s hard to have a better day than today,” said Geyer after the successful space mission.
![Since the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge in late March, federal law enforcement has began investigating what preceded the event. In a statement to CBS News, a spokesperson for the FBI said, [The] FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity. There is no other public information available and we will have no further comment. (Courtesy Isaac Smay via Flickr)](https://www.wjpitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/53619368036_399400003a_b.jpg)
