Liftoff! Ares I-X Roars off Pad 39B

Liftoff of the 6-minute flight test was at 11:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 28, 2009. This was the first launch from Kennedy’s pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program’s Saturn rockets were retired.

The parts used to make the Ares I-X booster flew on 30 different shuttle missions ranging from STS-29 in 1989 to STS-106 in 2000.

The data returned from more than 700 sensors throughout the rocket will be used to refine the design of future launch vehicles and bring NASA one step closer to reaching its exploration goals.

NASA’s Ares I-X Launch Rescheduled for Wednesday

NASA mission managers canceled Tuesday’s scheduled launch of the Ares I-X flight test because of weather concerns at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Another launch attempt is targeted for Wednesday. A four-hour launch window opens at 8 a.m. EDT.

The launch was delayed for 24 hours because of winds at the launch pad that exceeded the 20-knot limit and concerns about clouds with moisture that could have caused static build-up on the rocket and led to communication issues. Forecasters predict a 60 percent chance of favorable weather Wednesday.

The Ares I-X is part of a larger flight test program that will provide data for future launch vehicles and give NASA an opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations.

NASA’s Ares I-X Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad 39B

For the first time in more than a quarter century, a new vehicle is sitting at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Ares I-X flight test vehicle arrived at the pad atop of a giant crawler-transporter at approximately 7:45 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

The crawler-transporter left Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building at 1:39 a.m., traveling less than 1 mph during the 4.2-mile journey. The rocket was secured on the launch pad at 9:17 a.m.

The vehicle is scheduled to launch at 8 a.m. on Oct. 27. This test flight of the Ares I-X rocket will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, models, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I launch vehicle.

The Ares I rocket is being designed to carry astronauts to space in the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The Ares I-X test flight also will allow NASA to gather critical data during ascent of the vehicle’s integrated stack, which includes the Ares I with a simulated upper stage, Orion and launch abort system. Data collected from more than 700 sensors throughout the rocket will begin to confirm the vehicle as a whole is safe and stable in flight before astronauts begin traveling into orbit.

“With the arrival of Ares I-X at the pad, this milestone demonstrates NASA’s world-class ability to conceptually design, build and process a new launch vehicle in just under four years,” said Bob Ess, mission manager for Ares I-X at Kennedy. “Nearly 2,000 NASA and contractor employees located throughout the United States worked together in an unprecedented fashion, resulting in the new vehicle ready for flight.”

During the week before launch, technicians at the pad will perform a variety of electrical and mechanical checks to ready the vehicle for flight, including hydraulic power unit hot fire, steering tests and internal power verifications using flight batteries.

United Space Alliance of Houston is NASA’s prime contractor for the ground processing of the Ares I-X rocket.

“Processing for the Ares I-X test flight in parallel with space shuttle operations has been a true challenge involving people and hardware from across the country, and we’re very proud of what the team has accomplished,” said Mark Nappi, vice president of Launch and Recovery Systems for United Space Alliance.

ATK Space Systems of Magna, Utah, is NASA’s prime contractor for the first stage of the rocket.

“The NASA and contractor teamwork displayed over the last four years has been the catalyst that brought us to this important milestone today,” said Bob Herman, ATK’s vice president of Exploration Systems for Kennedy Space Center Operations. “As the Ares I first stage provider, we are looking forward to receiving invaluable data during the flight test.”

At the Flight Test Readiness Review on Oct. 23, mission managers will finalize the launch date and provide the team with a final “go” or “no go” for launch.

Ares I-X is an un-crewed, sub-orbital development test in a modified Ares I configuration. Ares I-X is the first developmental flight test of the Constellation Program, which includes the Ares I and V rockets, Orion and the Altair lunar lander.

NASA Completes Assembly of Ares I-X Test Rocket

For the first time in more than a quarter-century a new space vehicle stands ready in NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. The Ares I-X rocket, its simulated crew module and launch abort system are assembled on a mobile launch platform at Kennedy in preparation for launch this fall.

The final segments of the Ares I-X were stacked on Aug. 13, completing the 327-foot launch vehicle and providing the first look at the finished rocket’s distinctive shape. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31.

“More than three years of hard work with the NASA and contractor team has brought us to this historic moment,” said Bob Ess, Ares I-X mission manager. “This flight test is a critical step in continuing our design process for the Ares vehicle and the first flight for the Constellation Program.”

The Ares I-X is wired with more than 700 sensors to gather data during the two-and-a-half minute flight test. The launch will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I crew launch vehicle. The data collected during the launch will allow NASA to gather critical data during ascent of the integrated Orion spacecraft and the Ares I rocket.

Now that the Ares I-X is assembled, numerous evaluations will be run on all the rocket systems, including complex instruments that will constantly measure the vehicle’s movements as it launches and the first stage separates. The evaluations include a process called “modal testing,” which will shake the stack slightly to test stiffness of the rocket, including the pinned and bolted joints.

STATUS REPORT: ARES I-X July 10, 2009

STATUS REPORT : ARES-I-X-071009

Ares I-X Status Report

Launch Vehicle: Ares I-X
Launch Date: Targeted for no earlier than August 30
Launch Pad: 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Ares I-X Flight Hardware

This week’s milestones include:

- Super Stack 1 assembly is now complete with the attaching of the forward assembly to the fifth segment simulator. Stack one is made up of eight individual pieces: interstages 1 and 2, the frustum, the forward skirt extension, the forward skirt and the aft, center and forward segments of the fifth segment simulator. It also includes two internal elements, the roll control system and the first stage avionics module.

- The aft assembly, which comprises the aft skirt and aft motor segment, was moved from the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building. It was lifted onto the Mobile Launcher Platform in High Bay 3, signifying the beginning of stacking operations.

- The aft center motor segment also was moved from the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building and attached to the aft assembly in High Bay 3.

- Camera installed on the upper stage simulator

Last week milestones completed include:

- Aft assembly closeouts

- VAB High Bay 3 stacking preparations

Next processing milestones:

- Instrumentation testing

- Stack 1 modal test

A series of sensors strategically located throughout the stack will measure the amount and direction of movement, as the electro-mechanical shakers impose random loads to determine the rocket segment’s first several bending modes. A comparison will be made between predicted and measured mode shapes to verify the flight dynamics model.

- Forward center motor segment stacking

Ares I-X Ground Support Equipment

- At Launch Pad 39B, modification are ongoing.

The gaseous vent arm, beanie cap and orbiter access arm have been removed. The vehicle stabilization system is being built at the base of the launch pad. The Ares I-X flight test will provide NASA an early opportunity to check and prove hardware, analysis and modeling methods, and facilities and ground operations needed to develop the Ares I, which is NASA’s next crew launch vehicle. The test also will allow NASA to gather critical data during the ascent of the integrated stack, which will help inform the design of the Ares I rocket and the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The data will ensure the entire vehicle system is safe and fully operational before astronauts begin traveling in it to the International Space Station and moon.

Ares I-X Team Reviewing Consensus for Stacking

(Above) At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Marshall Smith, the Ares I-X Systems Engineering and Integration chief, reviews consensus for stacking and mating of the I-X upper stage segments with the management team.

(Above) Steve Davis, deputy mission manager, gives a slide presentation on the Orion Crew Module.

Launch of the Ares I-X flight test is targeted no earlier than Aug. 30 from Launch Pad 39B. Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system.

Ares I-X Rocket Achieves Historic Hardware Milestones

(Above) Artist concept of NASA’s Ares I-X in flight.

NASA’s Constellation Program reached two major processing milestones this week as two new pieces of Ares I-X hardware were transferred for final assembly in preparation for the first flight test of the rocket later this summer at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Once stacking operations begin later this month, it will be the first time a new vehicle has been stacked on NASA’s Mobile Launch Platform in more than 25 years.

The forward assembly, composed of the forward skirt, forward skirt extension and the frustum, was moved Thursday from Kennedy’s Assembly Refurbishment Facility, or ARF, to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking operations.

The aft skirt was moved Monday from the ARF to the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility to be attached to the aft motor segment, forming the aft assembly. The assembly will next move to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the Mobile Launcher Platform.

The Ares I-X rocket is a combination of existing and simulator hardware that will resemble the Ares I crew launch vehicle in size, shape and weight. It will provide valuable flight data to guide the final design of the Ares I, which will launch astronauts in the Orion crew exploration vehicle.

“This is a very exciting week for the team to have the hardware moving out of the ARF, showing how much progress we’ve made and that we are that much closer to launch,” said NASA Ares I-X mission manager Bob Ess of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The flight test of the Ares I-X will bring NASA one-step closer to its Constellation Program’s exploration goals of returning humans to the moon for sustained exploration of the lunar surface and missions to destinations beyond.

The forward assembly connects the 12-foot diameter first stage motor to the 18-foot diameter upper stage simulator. Weighing more than 40,000 pounds, the assembly houses three newly designed descent parachutes for first stage recovery.

The aft skirt, which is used at the bottom of the Solid Rocket Boosters for the Space Shuttle Program, was modified over the last year and a half for use on Ares I-X. Some modifications include adding deceleration and tumble motors, avionics and a controller for the auxiliary power unit.

“This week is the culmination of tremendous hard work and dedication by the entire NASA and contractor team,” said Joe Oliva, first stage program manager for the Ares I-X at ATK Space Systems in Salt Lake City. “These milestones are leading us to a flight test later this year that will provide our proof of concept data for NASA’s next generation of launch vehicles.”