Ares I-X FIRST Test Flight Set For Tuesday Morning
Watch It Live On NASA TV
Original post date: Monday, October 26, 2009
8:56pm CDT
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Bathed in Lights
As nightfall comes to Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Oct. 23rd... xenon lights reveal the Ares I-X rocket awaiting the approaching liftoff of its flight test... This is the first time since the Apollo Program's Saturn rockets were retired that a vehicle other than the space shuttle has occupied the pad.
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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NASA's first flight test for the agency's next-generation spacecraft and launch vehicle system, called Ares I-X, will bring NASA one step closer to its exploration goals. The flight test will provide NASA with an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I.
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Late Monday evening... the Ares I-X flight test vehicle was poised on Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B and was ready to fly. The launch team reports no issues with the 327-foot rocket, the world's largest at present.
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The only spoiler when tomorrow morning's launch window opens at 8 a.m. EDT might be the weather. Currently, there only is a 40 percent chance of favorable weather during the window, which extends until noon. The team will have the same four-hour window for a launch attempt on Wednesday if Tuesday's liftoff is scrubbed, and Wednesday's weather shows a slight improvement to 60 percent "go."
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The launch team of approximately 30 members will have their "call to stations" at 12:30 a.m., leading into the beginning of the seven-hour countdown at 1 a.m.
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POST UPDATE:
Tuesday Morning, October 27, 2009
* Tuesday’s Test Launch Scrubbed *
Launch Team Aims for Second Try Tomorrow
10:45am CDT
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The Ares I-X launch team is preparing for a 24-hour turnaround, targeting 8:00am on Wednesday as liftoff time for the Ares I-X flight test vehicle... Tuesday's attempt was plagued by weather issues, even though the vehicle itself was ready to fly. After multiple attempts to reset to new launch times during the 4-hour window, the final scrub came when the weather did not improve as the end of the window neared. Tomorrow's weather improves somewhat, with a 40 percent "no-go."... Wednesday's attempt will have the same 4-hour window that ends at noon, and live coverage will also begin again at 5 a.m. EDT...
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POST UPDATE:
LIFTOFF!!!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
11:28am CDT
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NASA's Ares I-X Rocket Completes Successful Flight Test
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About above image: The Ares I-X flight test vehicle lifts off from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Image credit: NASA TV
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NASA's Ares I-X test rocket lifted off at 10:30am CDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a two-minute powered flight. The test flight lasted about six minutes from its launch from the newly-modified Launch Complex 39B until splash down of the rocket's booster stage nearly 150 miles down range.
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"This is a huge step forward for NASA's exploration goals," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Ares I-X provides NASA with an enormous amount of data that will be used to improve the design and safety of the next generation of American spaceflight vehicles -- vehicles that could again take humans beyond low Earth orbit."
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The 327-foot tall Ares I-X test vehicle produced 2.6 million pounds of thrust to accelerate the rocket to nearly 3 g's and Mach 4.76, just shy of hypersonic speed. It capped its easterly flight at a sub-orbital altitude of 150,000 feet after the separation of its first stage, a four-segment solid rocket booster.
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Parachutes deployed for recovery of the booster and the solid rocket motor will be recovered at sea for later inspection. The simulated upper stage, Orion crew module, and launch abort system will not be recovered.
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Keep up-to-date with the
Latest Ares I-X Launch News
HERE
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* NASA's Launch Blog of the Ares I-X launch begins tomorrow at 4:00am CDT.
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NASA TV
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* But for now -- Here’s a little info for you about this NEW Ares I Rocket *
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NASA is already at work developing hardware and systems for the Ares I rocket
that will send future astronauts into orbit. Built on cutting-edge launch technologies, evolved powerful Apollo and space shuttle propulsion elements, and decades of NASA spaceflight experience, Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system -- one that will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system..
Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket configuration topped by the Orion crew vehicle and its launch abort system. In addition to the vehicle's primary mission -- carrying crews of four to six astronauts to Earth orbit -- Ares I may also use its 25-ton payload capacity to deliver resources and supplies to the International Space Station, or to "park" payloads in orbit for retrieval by other spacecraft bound for the moon or other destinations.
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During launch, the first-stage booster powers the vehicle toward low Earth orbit. In mid-flight, the reusable booster separates and the upper stage's J-2X engine ignites, putting the vehicle into a circular orbit.
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Crew transportation to the International Space Station is planned to begin no later than 2014. The first lunar excursion is scheduled for the 2020 timeframe.
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Ares I First Stage
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The Ares I first stage is a single, five-segment reusable solid rocket booster derived from the Space Shuttle Program's reusable solid rocket motor, which burns a specially formulated and shaped solid propellant.
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A newly designed forward adapter will mate the vehicle's first stage to the upper stage, and will be equipped with booster separation motors to disconnect the stages during ascent.
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Ares I Upper Stage / Upper Stage Engine
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On July 20, 2009, NASA and ATK unveiled the completed Ares I first stage five-segment solid rocket booster in Promontory, Utah. The completed solid rocket booster was installed horizontally in a test stand that was modified from the Space Shuttle's four-segment configuration to fit the new five-segment Ares I booster. The first major ground test of the NASA Constellation program was originally set for August 27th but was postponed until September 10th... which turned out to be a HUGE success. (Watch the video below...)
Above info/photos from the NASA.gov website
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Ares Development Motor 1 Test
Above video posted on YouTube by NASAtelevision
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In case you missed today’s Launch -- Click it out below...
ARES I-X Test Flight
This video posted on YouTube by NASAtelevision
AubreyJ.........
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