Four years and $350 million in the making, Ares 1-X -- NASA's answer to the retiring space shuttles -- is at the launch pad, with liftoff set for Oct. 27.
1-X is really NASA's opening salvo in a bid to return astronauts to the moon. There's some competition for the job. Buoyed by the findings of a presidential-appointed space review panel, which is due to issue it's final report on Thursday, commercial companies are game to take on the task of flying people into space, at least as far at the space station anyway.
The symbolism of the shuttle Atlantis on one pad and the Ares 1-X on the other was hard to miss. The shuttle is being prepared for a station resupply mission in November, one of the last six flights before the fleet is retired.
Astronauts assigned to fly on Atlantis were in town to participate in a practice launch countdown, but NASA bumped their flight a few days and rescheduled the dress rehearsal to focus on next week's Ares 1-X flight. The crew did some emergency evacuation training and spoke briefly with reporters at the launch pad, Atlantis behind them and Ares 1-X just north.
"In between this vehicle and that, we’ve spent quite a few years where we’ve had vehicles that are planned, vehicles that are on PowerPoint. We talk about doing it, but we never end up bending metal," said astronaut Randy Bresnik, one of the Atlantis crewmembers.
"Well there it," he said, pointing at Ares. "We built this vehicle. It's ready to fly and that is just a pretty awesome thing for us, the American people, to see."
(Dreams, hopes riding on Ares 1-X test vehicle. Credit: SpaceflightNow.com)
COMMENTS (0)