Orion capsule offers glimpse into the future of space travel Looks can be deceiving, but make no mistake: Orion is nothing like Apollo. Nearly 500 people got a look at a mock-up of the next generation of space travel Monday at Tallahassee's Challenger Learning Centre.
NASA and ATK To Conduct Full-Scale Motor Test For Ares I Rocket NASA and Alliant Techsystems Inc. [ATK] will conduct the first full-scale, full-duration test of the new first-stage solid rocket motor for the Ares I rocket at 1 p.m. MDT, on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Engineers developing Nasa's new rockets have denied that the agency's human spaceflight plans are too expensive, too risky and subject to long delays. The US space agency has already spent four years developing its next-generation rockets, called Ares. The engineers defended their work before a presidential panel tasked with reviewing Nasa's plans beyond 2010, when the shuttle is due to be retired. They said Ares was the safest, fastest way to get Americans back into space.
NASA Tests Largest Rocket Parachutes Ever for Ares I NASA and industry engineers successfully completed the first test of the Ares I rocket's three main parachutes Wednesday. The parachutes -- the largest rocket parachutes ever manufactured -- are designed to slow the rapid descent of the rocket's spent first-stage motor, permitting its recovery for use on future flights.
The second of two roll control system modules for the Ares I-X was installed April 29 into the rocket's interstage. The work took place inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre, Fla. The system is designed to perform a 90-degree roll after the rocket clears the launch tower, preventing a roll during flight and maintaining the orientation of the rocket until separation of the upper and first stages. Part of the upper stage simulator, the system is composed of two modules and four thrusters. Ares I-X is the test rocket for the Ares I, which is part of the NASA Constellation Program's plans to return astronauts to the moon and beyond. Ares I-X is targeted for launch in August 2009.
NASA has cut the crew size for its new Orion spacecraft down from six seats to four in order to keep the space shuttle replacement on track for a March 2015 debut. The space agency made the decision earlier this month in order to meet its commitment to begin operational manned flights on the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle - NASA's successor for its retiring space shuttles - by 2015.
At NASAs Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, Mobile Launcher Platform, or MLP-1, rolled from Launch Pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building on April 13. With MLP-1 now in the VABs High Bay 3, preparations can begin for stacking of NASAs Ares I-X rocket for its flight test this summer.
The pieces are coming together for the first test flight of NASA's new rocket, Ares 1, scheduled to lift off this summer. The rocket prototype, called Ares 1-X, is scheduled to blast off from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The flight will be unmanned, and will only include a partial first stage of the rocket, which should lift the vehicle and mock-ups of its upper stage to about 40.2 kilometres in roughly two minutes.
Media Invited to see New Hardware for NASA's Ares I-X Flight Test Reporters are invited to view new hardware that will be used in the launch of the Ares I-X rocket, which will be the first flight test to develop the Ares I rocket.