ShareShould the Obama administration scrap the Ares 1 in favor of another rocket, and perhaps another destination?
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s newest rocket completed a brief test flight Wednesday, the first step in a back-to-the-moon program that could yet be shelved by the White House.
The 327-foot Ares I-X rocket resembled a giant white pencil as it shot into the sky, delayed a day by poor weather.The skinny experimental rocket, nearly twice the height of the spaceship it’s supposed to replace — the shuttle — carried no passengers or payload, only throwaway ballast and hundreds of sensors. The flight cost $445 million.NASA said the flight was a tremendous success, based on early indications."Oh, man. Well, how impressive is that," said Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA’s space frontier program, known as Constellation. "You’ve accomplished a great step forward for exploration," he told launch controllers.It was the first time in nearly 30 years that a new rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center. Columbia made the maiden voyage for the shuttle fleet in 1981.Liftoff occurred 48 years and one day after the first launch of a Saturn rocket, a precursor to what carried astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program. The Saturn V moon rockets were the tallest ever built, 363 feet.Wednesday’s launch, three years in the making, represented the first step in NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the moon. The White House, though, is re-evaluating the human spaceflight program and may dump the Ares I in favor of another rocket and possibly another destination.The test flight attracted a large crowd.Ares I-X took off through a few clouds from a former shuttle launch pad at 11:30 a.m. EDT, 3 hours late because of bad weather. Launch controllers had to retest the rocket systems after more than 150 lightning strikes were reported around the pad overnight. Then, as on Tuesday, they had to wait out rain clouds.The ballistic flight did not come close to reaching space and, as expected, lasted a mere two minutes. That’s how long it took for the first-stage solid-fuel booster to burn out and separate from the mock upper stage at an altitude of 25 miles. But it will take months to analyze all the data from the approximately 725 pressure, strain and acceleration sensors.Parachutes popped open and dropped the booster into the Atlantic, where recovery ships waited.The upper portion of the rocket — all fake parts — were hurtled to an estimated altitude of 28 miles and fell uncontrolled into the ocean. Those pieces were never meant to be retrieved.It was all over in six minutes.NASA says the Ares I will be ready to carry astronauts to the International Space Station in 2015.
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