NASA's Ares I-X Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad in Florida
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- For the first time in more than a quarter
century, a new vehicle is sitting at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida. The Ares I-X flight test vehicle arrived at
the pad atop of a giant crawler-transporter at approximately 7:45
a.m. EDT Tuesday.
The crawler-transporter left Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at
1:39 a.m., traveling less than 1 mph during the 4.2-mile journey. The
rocket was secured on the launch pad at 9:17 a.m.
The vehicle is scheduled to launch at 8 a.m. on Oct. 27. This test
flight of the Ares I-X rocket will provide NASA an early opportunity
to test and prove hardware, models, facilities and ground operations
associated with the Ares I launch vehicle.
The Ares I rocket is being designed to carry astronauts to space in
the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The Ares I-X test flight also
will allow NASA to gather critical data during ascent of the
vehicle's integrated stack, which includes the Ares I with a
simulated upper stage, Orion and launch abort system. Data collected
from more than 700 sensors throughout the rocket will begin to
confirm the vehicle as a whole is safe and stable in flight before
astronauts begin traveling into orbit.
"With the arrival of Ares I-X at the pad, this milestone demonstrates
NASA's world-class ability to conceptually design, build and process
a new launch vehicle in just under four years," said Bob Ess, mission
manager for Ares I-X at Kennedy. "Nearly 2,000 NASA and contractor
employees located throughout the United States worked together in an
unprecedented fashion, resulting in the new vehicle ready for
flight."
During the week before launch, technicians at the pad will perform a
variety of electrical and mechanical checks to ready the vehicle for
flight, including hydraulic power unit hot fire, steering tests and
internal power verifications using flight batteries.
United Space Alliance of Houston is NASA's prime contractor for the
ground processing of the Ares I-X rocket.
"Processing for the Ares I-X test flight in parallel with space
shuttle operations has been a true challenge involving people and
hardware from across the country, and we're very proud of what the
team has accomplished," said Mark Nappi, vice president of Launch and
Recovery Systems for United Space Alliance.
ATK Space Systems of Magna, Utah, is NASA's prime contractor for the
first stage of the rocket.
"The NASA and contractor teamwork displayed over the last four years
has been the catalyst that brought us to this important milestone
today," said Bob Herman, ATK's vice president of Exploration Systems
for Kennedy Space Center Operations. "As the Ares I first stage
provider, we are looking forward to receiving invaluable data during
the flight test."
At the Flight Test Readiness Review on Oct. 23, mission managers will
finalize the launch date and provide the team with a final "go" or
"no go" for launch.
Ares I-X is an un-crewed, sub-orbital development test in a modified
Ares I configuration. Ares I-X is the first developmental flight test
of the Constellation Program, which includes the Ares I and V
rockets, Orion and the Altair lunar lander.
To follow Ares I-X on Twitter, visit:
http://www.twitter.com/NASA_
For information about Ares I-X, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX
