Nasa Ares 1-X Complete!

The US space agency's Ares 1-X test rocket has reached its launch pad at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

The launcher's journey from its assembly building to the pad took nearly eight hours.

The super-slim, 100m-tall launcher is a demonstrator for the vehicle Nasa plans to use in the next decade to take its new astronaut crewship into orbit.

news.bbc.co.uk...

This is good, I also read somewhere about a new plasma rocket that can get us to Mars in 39 days instead of the extra long haul journey... its about time we started to progress towards whats up there and out there and be amongst the stars lol..

Yeah it's about time for some progress, but then again it leaves me thinking are the secretly using plasma or anti gravity technology already? Oh well at least we're gettin somewhere with Ares


[edit on 20-10-2009 by Broonie]

Compleat!?
More like a photo op. They are probably just trying to beat spaceX and their Falcon9 to launch, but this is far from compleat.

source www.space.com...

The Ares I-X flight is the first of three planned test flights for the Ares I rocket. The next launch, dubbed Ares I-Y, is slated to launch in 2014 and include a real second stage.

Can somone explain why it will take 4-5 years before the second test?

Originally posted by fieryjaguarpaw
They are probably just trying to beat spaceX and their Falcon9 to launch...

Why would they be trying to beat SpaceX? They're not having a race. Besides, Ares 1-X isn't going into orbit, it's just an atmospheric test.

Can somone explain why it will take 4-5 years before the second test?

I haven't followed that closely to the development of the Ares I, but from what I know, due to the increasing costs of the program. The Ares 1-Y was pushed back a year to help spread out the costs to fit better within NASA's limited budget. It was originally planned for some time in 2012, but is now scheduled for Sept 2013 last I've seen. Unfortunately NASA doesn't have the budget to build and test these rockets in close succession.

Here's the current list of proposed flights as of October 2009: Constellation missions schedule

[edit on 20-10-2009 by jra]

Originally posted by jra

Originally posted by fieryjaguarpaw
They are probably just trying to beat spaceX and their Falcon9 to launch...

Why would they be trying to beat SpaceX? They're not having a race. Besides, Ares 1-X isn't going into orbit, it's just an atmospheric test.

[edit on 20-10-2009 by jra]

I don't know, just wild speculation on my part. Maybe they want to get a test under there belt before Obama decides wether to scrap the entire program or not. I'm just trying to figure out why they test this thing with a dummy stage and a 4 segment booster instead of a 5 segment, and then not do a test of the the real thing for another 4 to 5 years. Maybe they think it will look good if they send it up and people will think were making great progress. Maybe they think if falcon launches (and it will whenever NASA gives it the go-ahead) first then people will start asking why we are dumping all this money into something that private industry can do cheaper and quicker.

From another related thread...

Originally posted by ThaLoccster
Apparently the Ares is the successor to the Space Shuttle program.

Here's some information.

Amid uncertainty, NASA plans for Ares 1-X test flight

As the incoming Obama administration considers whether to accelerate development of the Ares 1 rocket that will replace the space shuttle - or possibly change course and switch to a different system or even extend shuttle operations - NASA is pressing ahead with plans to launch a critical sub-orbital test flight to show off the new rocket and collect valuable engineering data.

The goals of the unmanned Ares 1-X mission are to help engineers resolve questions about launch vibration, roll control, aerodynamic forces and thermal effects, as well as test stage separation systems and recovery of the spent first stage using new 150-foot-wide parachutes.

Equally important, perhaps, the test flight will give American taxpayers their first real glimpse of the new Constellation program and the towering, slender rocket intended to replace the space shuttle after it is retired in 2010.

Ares 1

NASA completed the Ares I system requirements review in January 2007.[20] Project design is to continue through the end of 2009, with development and qualification testing running concurrently through 2012. As of July 2009, flight articles are to begin production towards the end of 2009 for a first launch in June 2011.[28] Since 2006 the first launch of a human has been planned for no later than 2014,[29] which is four years after the planned retirement of the Space Shuttle.

Delays in the Ares I development schedule due to budgetary pressures and unforeseen engineering and technical difficulties have increased the gap between the end of the Space Shuttle program and the first operational flight of Ares I.[30] The total estimated cost to develop the Ares I through 2015 has risen from $28 billion in 2006 to more than $40 billion in 2009.[31]

Originally scheduled for first test flights in 2011, the Augustine Commission recently found that Ares I was unlikely to launch with a crewed payload before 2017 due to budget constraints.[32]