Constellation/Ares: Whither NASA after the Shuttle?

[Rick]

The test firing has been completed of a new first-stage rocket motor that could one day help take US astronauts back to the surface of the Moon.

The five-segment booster is intended to power the early flight phase of Nasa's proposed Ares 1 launch vehicle - its replacement for the space shuttle.

The static test lasting just over two minutes took place at manufacturer ATK's Utah facility.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8249772.stm

[mickw]

NASA's first version of the rocket slated to replace the space shuttle and send astronauts back to the moon will make its debut test launch Oct. 27, four days early, the space agency announced Tuesday.

The rocket, a demonstration booster called Ares I-X, was previously scheduled to blast off Oct. 31, but engineers preparing the booster were able to complete work in time for the earlier liftoff, NASA officials said. Launch is set for 8:00 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) on Tuesday, Oct. 27 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

More:   http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090922-ares1x-launch-date.html

[Rick]

The US space agency's Ares 1-X test rocket has reached its launch pad at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

The launcher's journey from its assembly building to the pad took nearly eight hours.

The super-slim, 100m-tall launcher is a demonstrator for the vehicle Nasa plans to use in the next decade to take its new astronaut crewship into orbit.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8311023.stm

Ares I-X trundles to launchpad

NASA's Ares I-X test rocket is currently trundling towards Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Centre ahead of a slated 27 October first test flight.

The vehicle, described by NASA as the "essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system" and built on "cutting-edge launch technologies, evolved powerful Apollo and space shuttle propulsion elements, and decades of NASA spaceflight experience", represents the trailblazer for the agency's Constellation programme.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/20/ares_i_x/

[Mike]

If you want to watch the launch (due at 15:30 today) put this URL into your media player - mms://209.73.191.137/nqsenc004_d?StreamID=95808537&pl_auth=7e1452db85f14ff0c51ea888655192e8&ht=120&pl_b=00D90C088751AE84D25DB7207A4AE85B6F&CG_ID=1369080

[Rick]

The US space agency (Nasa) has launched a prototype rocket designed to replace the ageing space shuttle.

The Ares I-X blasted off from Florida on a flight that will test technology for the development of a future manned launch vehicle.

The 100m-tall, syringe-like rocket roared into the sky at 1530 GMT from Nasa's Kennedy Space Center.

The stick-thin launcher is the first Nasa has built in more than three decades, but its future is uncertain.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8330424.stm

[Rick]

Experts asked to review the US human spaceflight programme have given strong support to the use of commercial services to launch astronauts.

The Augustine panel published its final report on Thursday and said America could find cheaper, faster successors to the shuttle in the private sector.

The US space agency is developing two new rockets and a crew capsule.

But the committee has told President Barack Obama that these systems no longer meet the US's immediate needs.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8321353.stm

[Whitters]

More at NASA's archive.

(Hide hideously long URL -- Rick)

[mickw]

NASA's gleaming new Ares I-X rocket grew an odd-looking hood Wednesday as it launched skyward on a suborbital test flight — a telltale sign of a rocket going supersonic.

The hood was actually a vapor cone, sort of like a man-made cloud, created as the long, slender Ares I-X rocket hit Mach 1 and broke the sound barrier. Photographer Scott Andrews caught the moment 39 seconds after the 327-foot (100-meter) rocket blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It can also be seen in NASA's video of the Ares I-X launch

More:   http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/091028-ares-1x-supersonic.html

[Rick]

The booster used on the Ares 1-X test rocket on Wednesday was damaged when it fell back into the ocean, the US space agency (Nasa) says.

The recovery team sent to retrieve the stage from waters east of the Kennedy Space Center found a large dent in the side of the booster.

Nasa said the damage resulted from failures in the parachute system.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8334951.stm

[Rick]

Members of the US Congress are preparing to battle Obama's White House over control of NASA's Constellation moon-rocket program.

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a major 2010 spending bill that would effectively tie Obama's hands if he attempts to make changes to the current Constellation program.

The 2010 Omnibus Appropriations bill provides $3.46bn for Constellation and $1.5 billion for Ares rocket projects. It also notably includes language that would block any effort by NASA or the Obama administration to cancel or change the Constellation program without first receiving congressional approval.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/11/congress_bill_control_nasa_constellation/

[Rick]

US President Barack Obama will ask Congress to jettison NASA's plans to develop its next-generation Ares 1 crew launch vehicle and increase funds for the "simpler" Ares V heavy lift rocket to replace the space shuttle fleet.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/18/report_aresi_aresv_nasa_new_direction/