Ares I-X Rocket: NASA Unveils its New Baby

Slender, 327-Foot Rocket is U.S.'s 1st New Craft in 3 Decades; Set for Pivotal Test Launch in 1 Week

(CBS)  NASA rolled out its first new space craft in about three decades early Tuesday morning, a towering, spindly rocket called the Ares I-X.

The Ares is slated for an Oct. 27 test flight, the culmination of a $445 million project which has become NASA's top priority, has America's space community buzzing with anticipation.

Upon seeing the Ares roll slowly out of the hangar at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, CBS News Radio correspondent Peter King, who has watched a NASA space craft or two roll out in his day, was awestruck.

"Wow, this thing is tall," said King. In fact, it's more than twice the height of most of NASA's shuttle fleet, measuring a whopping 327 feet from head to tail.

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"It's a very tall, slender rocket," said King. "For people used to seeing shuttles come out of this building, this is a surreal sight. It looks almost naked, like you could push it over with a feather."

CBS News space analyst Bill Harwood reported that the Ares project has taken such precedence for NASA that engineers decided Monday morning a Shuttle Atlantis launch slated for mid-November would have to be pushed back to accommodate the Ares test.

Many engineers supporting the Ares project also are needed for shuttle processing, so work to ready Atlantis for launch on the next space station assembly and resupply mission will be stretched out a bit. NASA had been targeting Nov. 12 for launch, but managers agreed Monday on Nov. 16 as a more realistic "no-earlier-than" launch date.

The Ares test flight is a key element in NASA's post-shuttle Constellation program, which calls for replacing the shuttle with a safer, lower-cost rocket to ferry astronauts to low-Earth orbit and development of a large, unmanned heavy lift rocket - the Ares V - that would support eventual expeditions to the moon.

The Obama administration currently is reassessing NASA's manned space program and evaluating five options developed by an independent panel of space experts led by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine. Only one of the five options includes the Ares I. But in recent hearings, lawmakers expressed reluctance to scrap the Constellation architecture and it's not yet clear what action the Obama administration might take, or when a decision will be made.

Given that backdrop in the policy arena, the planned test flight of the Ares I-X could prove critical to the future of the Constellation program. While a success would not guarantee a continuation of Constellation, a failure could prove fatal.

"You can't avoid that," former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, who oversaw the implementation of the Constellation program, said in an interview. "Now, I'll say right on the heels of that remark I think that's regrettable. You don't hinge decision making on one test flight. I mean, that's not good engineering. But I think it's unavoidable that policy makers will look to the success or failure of this flight as a key to future decisions."

The 1.8-million-pound Ares I-X rocket is made up of a four-segment shuttle solid-fuel booster, a dummy fifth segment, a dummy second stage and a mockup of an Orion crew capsule and escape rocket. More than 700 sensors are mounted on the rocket to determine actual performance and the stresses the vehicle experiences, along with three television cameras.

Like any shuttle booster, the Ares I-X will fire for two minutes, boosting the vehicle to an altitude of about 130,000 feet and a velocity of nearly five times the speed of sound. At that point, roughly 43 miles due east of the Kennedy Space Center, the first stage will separate from the dummy upper stage and fall to the Atlantic Ocean in a test of new parachutes designed for the operational Ares I. The dummy upper stage, which will not be recovered, will crash into the ocean some 147 miles from the space center.

The towering rocket, anchored to a modified shuttle launch platform by four massive bolts at the base of the booster's flared aft skirt, stands more than twice as tall as an assembled space shuttle and it was expected to sway slightly as NASA's crawler-transporter carries the "stack" to the launch pad. Officials say the tip of the rocket is expected to move back and forth about a foot depending on the wind and other factors.

While the rocket was engineered to withstand winds of up to 45 knots, the Ares I-X rollout constraint is 20 knots and forecasters are predicting a 90 percent chance of acceptable weather. At the launch pad, a new $13 million shock absorber system utilizing locomotive springs will be hooked up to hold the rocket steady until just before launch.

Liftoff is targeted for 8 a.m. on Oct. 27. Backup opportunities are available Oct. 28 and 29 if needed.

"We're incredibly excited to be on the cusp of flying the system, seeing what Ares I can do," Jeff Hanley, Constellation program manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, told Harwood.

The goal of the test flight is to verify computer models and flight characteristics during the critical first two minutes of flight when aerodynamic stresses are most severe.

While the real Ares I rocket features a first-stage booster with five fuel segments, engineers say the four-segment Ares I-X vehicle will closely mimic the flying characteristics of the manned version.

[emiboo95]

Okay for everyone complaining about the cost of the "445 million dollar two minute flight," the 445 million was for three whole years of researching, testing, and building ares IX. Each of the shuttles cost over 1 BILLION dollars. And, each shuttle flight cost 5 million dollars more than the whole complete process of the ares i-x. I think ares i-x was a good investment towards an over-all cheaper and safer fleet of vehicles.

[toooobsocks]

Um... any mention of the purpose of this abomination?
Because it seems that the entire point of this four-hundred and forty-five million dollar project is "to provide 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, which could again take humans beyond low Earth orbit."
NEXT generation, NASA? As if anyone really wants to cruise around in outer space after all we've already put the planets through. Furthermore, I wasn't aware we even HAD a first generation of American spaceflight vehicles- aside from yours and other countries' rockets that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Come on, this isn't for Americans in general. This will just lead to more and more incredibly costly research and further damage to the planets.
Though, personally, I'm much less concerned with the cost as compared to the damage this could potentially cause, not to mention its ludicrous purpose, seemingly unlike anyone else, INCLUDING our best-friends-with-our-best-interests-in-mind at NASA, as I cannot find any documents stating anything other than the cost.

[migperrod]

Hi, I just want to know, what is the purpose of the ARES I-X rocket?
is this going to be the new Aircrft?

[dastib]

Dear God Heaven we need your Help''We the people of the United States or our leader are digging a hole so deep we will never get out of it' that is a Ton of Mone'''''''''''''y'' Kid's are going hungrey in the so called America'' What is our little kid's going to do when they become Adult's and need a Job????????????? that is a Ton of Money!!!!!!!!!!!! Dear God in Heaven we need your Help!!!!!!! we are going to Pot!!!!!!!

[mottasa-2009]

OK for all of you "Rocket Scientists" and "Economists" out there here are two clues:

First, The Ares is a SOLID fuel rocket. The advantage is that the fuel to weight ratio makes it very efficient. The largest complaint concerning solid fuel boosters is control. Once you light the candle it stays lit until the fuel is exhausted and it cannot be throttled. (It is also far cheaper than RP-1/LOX fueled vehicles and WAYYYYY cheaper than H/Lox fueled vehicles.

Second, The NASA budget is fractional compared to the biggest budget slice. Can you guess what it is? Defense? WRONG. Its health and human services. Look at it graphically at: http://www.federalbudget.com/

And finally, do you like:
Your GPS, cell phone, and other digital devices. you can thank NASA.

[SS_433]

by SS_433 October 20, 2009 1:14 PM EDT

I was just kidding. Actually, I like NASA, and I think they deserve more money. Whenever pure, and/or applied science are pursued, all kinds of useful things come about. Just look at what the space programs have brought us already.

[SS_433]

"NASA Unveils its New Baby"

New Baby! Ha Ha Ha! That just kills me!

They need another new baby like they need another orifice in their noggin.

[actornaught]

$445m for the project. I don't see any mention of what it will cost to launch each additional example.

But we could have over 2000 of these projects for what Iraq has siphoned off of our economy.

So far....

[H-Battery]

We could also have 1768 of these with the $787 billion dollar stimulas package that only created and or saved 30k jobs. Talk about a waste !

[hungry1968-16]

by Oregon_State_OSU October 20, 2009 10:56 AM EDT
I'm talking about hiring MORE teachers, and providing them with up to date supplies and materials.

hungry1968-16

Well once you get new supplies and Teachers and other stuff then your going to want a new buliding. Its a Catch 22. !






Huh?

How do you figure that?!?

This money should have been spent on America's education system. I never said ANYTHING about "new buildings". Those are YOUR words - not mine.

[toyota50]

Over 40 years ago I provided an answer that NASA Redstone Arsenal Engineering sought. I provided sample hardware for evaluation but it was rejected until I could provide an equation that proved that the hardware worked. Dr's Hans Hosenthein and George Landwehr in PV&E were the project managers for instrumentation and had been brought to NASA at Dr VonBraun's request as they had worked with him in development of the V-1. I can assure you that the rocket now to test fly has been mathmatically proven to work in competition with all other designs offered. When the Saturn V first flew, Dr Landwehr phone me with the message "The bird has flown unt die Force Washers are verking". Enjoy the flight

[Oregon_State_OSU]

It looks like a Super Nuke with the ablilty to Vaporize the entire country of IRAN and turn it into a giant sheet of Glass.

[spacelebowski]

Same technology as a V-2? This is far from the same technology Wehrner Von Braun used in the 40's. Ares I-X uses a solid propellant, not a liquid, less moving parts, which means a higher rate of success.The V-2 required a combination of ethanol and oxygen in order to achieve liftoff. To say that the Ares is a continuation of the V-2 rocket is wrong. They may look similar, because all rockets will look somewhat similar due to the aerodynamics needed to achieve insertion into space. Ares I-X and Ares I are a far cry from what Von Braun was using in WWII.

[jxknowles]

Yeah! Come on people, get it right. Not even close to a V-2.

[nordeck52]

Can't wait to hear/see the results of the test flight!

[parisdakar]

Cool.

[DoubleHappiness88]

Every dollar spent at NASA on exploration is a dollar that cannot be used to start another damned war.

Want to save real money? Cut the military budget!

[Mortarman29]

Want to save money? Cut the 2/3rds of the Federal budget that is unConstitutional (entitlements). That way the Federal government can just concentrate on what it is supposed to be doing! Like protecting us from enemies, regulating interstate commerce, etc.

[mysteryroche]

You said it Mortarman29. National defense, interstate highway system, etc. That's it!

[pickaguitar1]

Waste of money.

[displeased]

I think the $500 billion we lose from not taxing churches is a bigger waste of money.

[Oregon_State_OSU]

I work in one of the oldest Building on Campus currently. It has Steam heat and no A/C in the summer time. But in Oregon you dont need A/C like you do in the MidWest or East Coast or South. They have done a lot of work to maintain this building over the past 40 years and it shows.

[hungry1968-16]

I'm not talking about putting money into the actual buildings.

I'm talking about hiring MORE teachers, and providing them with up to date supplies and materials.

[Oregon_State_OSU]

Yeah I am glad they spent money on a new rocket. The shuttle fleet was getting old and needed to be replaced. I think it was a fantastic use of money.

I am tired of hearing that schools need to be replaced. I went to a Grade School that was 40 years old and is now 65 years old. Its called maintence and repair work and when you let that slide thats when buildings start to decay. Thats the peoblem with most of the schools now is no real upkeep and maintence was done on them for years and now they are begging for new buildings.

[hungry1968-16]

What a waste of money. They couldn't use these funds for something useful like schools or repairing our infrastructure?

[stn_sage]

I agree with you! This is a terrible waste of money! Especially, since they have anti-gravitic vehicles not widely known...but known...to the public.

[Oregon_State_OSU]

I'm talking about hiring MORE teachers, and providing them with up to date supplies and materials.

hungry1968-16

Well once you get new supplies and Teachers and other stuff then your going to want a new buliding. Its a Catch 22. !

[rafterman1]

The quest for knowledge is never a waste of money. We will NEVER come even close to solving all the problems down here and that "we need the money here on Earth" argument is and has only been lame and completely unrealistic. If the money didn't go to NASA, it would go into someone else's pocket and not the poor or hiring more teachers.

[pjk12354]

Yosemite Sam.......of outer space.......

[sincity_q]

The Ares V rocket; the heavy-lifter of the series, will be even larger... if and when it is ready for its own flight.