Mission Managers have given MCC a go to start bringing Orion home for a December 11 splashdown, with just a few hours of wiggle room to adjust for weather.

Orion is performing well. MCC is adding 7 new things to test out. The standard spacecraft orientation is tail-facing-sun. One of the new things they are comfortable trying out is orienting the spacecraft away from that about 20 degrees and see how the heaters and other thermal aspects work.

The process to bring Orion home is to fire it’s OMS engine (a Space Shuttle retread) and come in close to the Moon to sling shot back to Earth. Heck of a ride!

The number one priority of this flight is testing the reentry heatshield. So December 11 is a big day.