off

This week the Ares I-X rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral.  It was a new beginning in the storied history of American Spaceflight.  The I-X is a prototype of the Ares I, which is expected to see test launches in 2012 and begin launching crews into low Earth orbit and supplies to the International Space Station in 2014.  Ares I-X is now giving engineers valuable data for making tweaks to their design.  It consists of a solid rocket booster very similar to the rocket boosters you see on either side of the space shuttle, except that it is a little taller and the nozzle throat is a little bigger.  Stacked on top of that is the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fueled second stage which utilizes an engine derived from the Saturn V (the second stage was empty for this test flight).  The rest of the rocket, which will someday include a crew module and abort system (pointy thing at the top), was nothing but dumbed-down avionics and mass mockups of components that will eventually be used in Ares I and beyond.  If you haven’t already, take a look at the flight video.  You can go here:  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/flighttests/aresIx/index.html The video is on the right hand side.  Note the shock wave.  Read more... (658 words, 2 images, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)