BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The Space Coast is certainly buzzing that NASA's biggest launch in years in just days away.
"It's almost like the old days again," said Pat Looney, general manager of the Residence Inn off A1A in Cape Canaveral.
Looney said the hotel is busy any time there is a launch, but he hasn't seen this kind of response since the shuttle era.
"We're sold out Wednesday night, the night before the launch, but leading up to the launch and for a day or so afterward it'll still be a heavy demand," Looney said.
And he's not alone.
About a dozen other hotels in the Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral area are booked solid as will with folks hoping to witness history.
At 7:05 a.m. Thursday, atop a Delta IV heavy rocket, NASA will attempt to launch its Orion spacecraft on a test flight.
When it launches, Orion will climb to an altitude of 3,600 miles -- 15 times higher than the International Space Station -- and orbit the earth twice in a four-and-a-half hour test run.
The flight won't carry any astronauts, but will give NASA valuable data for moving to manned missions to asteroids and eventually Mars.
"This flight test, and this campaign of flight tests, are crucial to really understanding those environments of deep space," said Brian Austin, Orion's mission director. "As well as making this vehicle as safe as we possibly can."
NASA has said this is this biggest test flight in years, and with folks coming from all over to witness it in person, tourism officials hope other places in the county can reap the benefits.
"While it's in our name, and space does drive a lot of our business, we hope people discover us from space, but then come back and enjoy all of the other wonderful things to do in the area," said Eric Garvey, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism.
Tourism officials don't yet have an estimate as to what Orion's economic impact will be.
Weather for Thursday's launch is 60 percent favorable.