Ares I-X: First Flight of a New Era

[austin552]

Ares I-X: First Flight of a New Era - FOXNews.com

Ares I-X

Oct. 20: As the sun rises over Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 327-foot-tall Ares I-X rocket, secured to a mobile launcher platform, prepares to climb the five percent grade of the crawler way to the top of the pad.

The $445 million rocket's rollout comes on the eve of a final report from an independent committee appointed by the White House to review NASA's plans for future human spaceflight.

Not since the April 1981 test flight of NASA's space shuttle Columbia has NASA test launched a new rocket designed to carry astronauts into space.

Like Columbia and its external tank, the towering Ares I-X rocket is painted in all white and gleamed in the glare of blazing xenon spotlights as it emerged from the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building. But unlike that first shuttle flight, Ares I-X will be unmanned.




Source: NASA/AP

[Gene-o]

Remains to be seen if this bird will be anything but a dead end. Ares I is in danger of being cancelled and Orion might fly on EELV's or perhaps a shuttle derived launcher like DIRECT. EELV's could do the job, but I can understand why NASA wanted Ares I. Without Ares I there is no Ares V. Ares V is what every self respecting rocket geek wants. It put us back in the Saturn V category of launchers.

[flatbutt]

nearly half a billion USD for what? time has come to seriously re-think NASA's mission, or at least the priorities.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

nearly half a billion USD for what? time has come to seriously re-think NASA's mission, or at least the priorities.

Now hold on just a minute. They just spent $95 million to make a puff of dust on the moon.
OK, so they didn't learn anything from it but heck, IT WAS A PUFF OF DUST! ON THE MOON!
Sounds like a good deal to me

[sammyg2]

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Now hold on just a minute. They just spent $95 million to make a puff of dust on the moon.
OK, so they didn't learn anything from it but heck, IT WAS A PUFF OF DUST! ON THE MOON!

Didn't learn anything, huh?

NASA BRIEFS PRELIMINARY PLUME FINDINGS FROM MOON MISSION
NASA will hold a news conference Friday, November 13 to talk about early science results from its successful moon impacting mission, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS. The satellite gained worldwide attention when it plunged into a crater near the moon's south pole on Oct. 9. The briefing from NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., will begin at 9 a.m. PST. It will be broadcast
live on NASA Television: NASA - NASA TV

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (KGO) -- When NASA's Lunar Crater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission crashed into Cabeus Crater on the moon's south pole, October 9th, the team did find water in the form of, "Ice as we know it," according to multiple sources within the agency. "It will change the way we think about the moon. It is something we want to share with the world."

NASA'S LCROSS impact mission to announce water on moon - 11/12/09 - San Francisco News - abc7news.com

[Pazuzu]

I guess Sammy learned his own lesson of STFU and don't comment on a subject when you don't know anything about it...I was SURE he'd have already posted some childish cartoon and claimed that NASA (or is it just any science in general?) is the cause of the world's woes.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

nearly half a billion USD for what? time has come to seriously re-think NASA's mission, or at least the priorities.

I KNOW! I mean really, who needs science, research, or engineering? I mean, do we really care what is beyond the atmosphere of our own planet? I mean seriously, science and engineering is only responsible for......ummmm......everything that we use on a daily basis. But forget it, my McDonalds is getting cold and my favorite reality show is on.