Tue, Mar 17, 2009
Now Making 2,900-Mile Cross-Country Journey From UT To KSC
The final pieces of the Ares I-X flight test rocket left the
Alliant Tech Systems manufacturing facility in Promontory, UT
Thursday and began a 2,917-mile journey to its launch site at
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The first stage motor segments are the last shipment of Ares I-X
major hardware elements. The hardware will arrive in Florida later
this month and undergo final processing and preparations before
being stacked with the other portions of the rocket.
"This shipment means great things for the Ares I-X mission,"
said Ares I-X Deputy Mission Manager, Steve Davis. "It's wonderful
to see the next generation of American spaceflight continue to take
shape. The excitement is really building now as we start stacking
the pieces and preparing for launch later this year."
The Ares I-X will be the first flight test for the Ares I
rocket; the agency's next-generation spacecraft and crew launch
vehicle system. The flight will provide NASA an early opportunity
to test and prove hardware, analysis models, facilities and ground
operations associated with Ares I.
The Ares I-X rocket is a combination of existing and simulator
hardware that will resemble the Ares I rocket in size, shape and
weight. It will provide valuable data to guide the final design of
the Ares I. The test flight also will bring NASA one step closer to
its goals of returning to the moon, and traveling to destinations
beyond. The Ares I-X launch is scheduled later in 2009.
The Ares I-X first stage uses a four-segment solid rocket motor,
capable of generating 3.3 million pounds of thrust. The motor
provides the primary propulsion for the vehicle from liftoff to
stage separation 120 seconds into the flight. The motor segments
were taken from the existing space shuttle solid rocket booster
inventory for the flight test. The booster used for the Ares I-X
flight test is being modified to meet Ares needs by adding new
forward structures and a fifth segment simulator to better
replicate the size and shape of the Ares I crew launch vehicle.
More News
Airbus Racer Demonstrator Makes Inaugural Flight Airbus Helicopters' ambitious Racer demonstrator has achieved its inaugural flight as part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative, a corners>[...]
A little Bit Quieter, Said Testers, But in the End it's Still a DA40 Diamond Aircraft recently completed a little pilot project with Lufthansa Aviation Training, putting a pair of >[...]
Line Up And Wait (LUAW) Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway to line up and wait. It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance >[...]
Contributing To The Accident Was The Pilot’s Use Of Methamphetamine... Analysis: The pilot departed on a local flight to perform low-altitude maneuvers in a nearby desert val>[...]
From 2015 (YouTube Version): Overcoming Obstacles To Achieve Their Dreams… At EAA AirVenture 2015, FedEx arrived with one of their Airbus freight-hauling aircraft and placed>[...]
Airbus Racer Helicopter Demonstrator First Flight Part of Clean Sky 2 Initiative
See All