(CNN)With one 4½-hour flight Friday, the new spacecraft series that NASA hopes will take astronauts to Mars passed its first test above Earth. NASA's Orion capsule -- part of America's bid to take crews beyond low-Earth orbit for the first time since the Apollo missions -- splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday morning after lapping the planet twice on an uncrewed test flight. The cone-shaped craft, slowed by a series of parachutes, settled onto the water at 8:29 a.m. PT (11:29 a.m. ET) about 600 miles southwest of San Diego. "America has driven a golden spike as it crosses a bridge into the future," a NASA announcer said as the capsule bobbed on the ocean's surface during the agency's TV broadcast of the event.
@highlight
Orion splashes down 600 miles southwest of San Diego
@highlight
New spacecraft orbits Earth twice on its first test flight
@highlight
Orion went father from Earth than any craft designed for human since 1972
@highlight
Valve problems scrubbed Orion test launch on Thursday
It was a crucial test for the capsule: @placeholder wants to prove flight and re-entry abilities before it carries astronauts.
The Orion crew module, which looks like a throwback to the @placeholder era, but roomier, could take astronauts back to the moon, but also far beyond.
Friday's launch came a day after @placeholder scrubbed its first attempt because of a failure of some valves in the boosters to close.