testing like here over the arizona desert. we kind of put it through a different type of either environment or even a failure mode that we want to protect for. reporter: parachutes are the current focus. 26,000 feet the capsule is dropped out of a c-17 cargo jet to see how the chutes will help glide the spacecraft safely back to earth. orion weighs about 20,000 pounds, compared to the 250,000 pounds of the shuttle but don t let size fool you. there is actually more room inside her per person than there was for the shuttle crew. the space shuttle looked very large but the majority of volume was for payloads such as building the international space station. reporter: in just two years time orion will launch into space. that will be an unmanned mission for the next round of testing testing how it will reenter the earth s atmosphere and when it is launched, jon, it will 15 times farther than the international space station.
i mean, we were all crying, thrilled. we just knew she would make a triumphant return and we could, you know, we knew her and predicted it would happen. and i ve always felt like there is so many doubters and skeptics, but never doubt gabby giffords determination. this is the first of many votes she s going to cast. gabrielle giffords husband will be part of the endeavour crew, part of the shuttle crew that will meet the president today. some speculation that the congresswoman will also be at white house today. we ll find out later. finally, the end of the debt debate effectively moves the political world s focus from washington to the 2012 campaign trail. that s not necessarily good news for mitt romney. stories that have been on the back burner see this one today in politico called the mitt knit political protection program will start get something attention and after a noted silence, romney released an 11th hour statement on the debt deal, after we went off the air yesterday.
good morning to you. thank you for being with us. 6:00 a.m. in new york this morning. tuesday, july 19th. i was hearing that in parts of iowa the heat index felt like 130 yesterday. it s been brutal out there. even this morning on the east coast, it felt different. it felt hotter. we ll be covering that. we re watching that and millions are watching with a worldwide media empire hanging in the balance rupert murdoch is just hours away from facing his defining moment. in less than four hours, murdoch, his son and former top newspaper executive will appear before the british parliament. they will be asked what they knew about this phone hacking scandal that s growing wider by the day. it s threatening to take down news corp and perhaps murdoch himself. and the question is what they are going to be called upon to explain, what they re going to be compelled to explain and how that s different from being called before congress. who is going to be asking the questions today
it hits you with greater force the closer you get to the end. the emotions feel more intense today than they felt back on flight day two or flight day three. and i know it it will feel powerful as we near the end of our shift after complefghts our separation burns. reporter: the shuttle crew was busy overnight to so a cannister. it s roughly the size of a school bus. it s full of trash and old equipment. the crew will return home thursday. alisyn: we ll be live. looking forward to their return. hard to believe it s all over. chris, thank you so much for showing us that. casey anthony is out of jail amid heavy security. she was wisked away to an undisclosed location. where could she be.
flight day two or flight day three. and i know it it will feel powerful as we near the end of our shift after complefghts our separation burns. reporter: the shuttle crew was busy overnight to so a cannister. it s roughly the size of a school bus. it s full of trash and old equipment. the crew will return home thursday. alisyn: we ll be live. looking forward to their return. hard to believe it s all over. chris, thank you so much for showing us that. casey anthony is out of jail amid heavy security. she was wisked away to an undisclosed location. where could she be. and what is next for the one-time accused child killer. we are live with that story. hey, the new guy is loaded with protein!