Ares 1-X Test Flight a Success, Says NASA

Wednesday's test fight of the Ares 1-X, a prototype for the spacecraft envisioned by NASA as a replacement for the shuttle, was a success, space agency officials declared after the mid-day splashdown.

The 327 foot long Ares 1-X lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 11:30 a.m., climbing to an altitude of about 150,000 feet before descending by parachute into the Atlantic Ocean. The landing, 150 miles east of the Florida launch complex, followed the liftoff by six minutes.

"How cool was the Ares 1-X test flight?" beamed Doug Cooke, NASA's associate administrator for exploration, before a post mission news briefing from Kennedy. "The vehicle flew very well. We will get a lot of data back. We will learn a lot that will stand us in good stead for the future."

The $450 million test flight, three years in the making, was the first for major components of NASA's Constellation Program, an initiative started in the aftermath of the 2003 Columbia accident to return American explorers to the moon. As the unmanned test rocket took flight, more than 700 sensors on the Ares 1-X gathered pressure, strain, temperature and velocity measurements that were recorded on board as well as transmitted to engineers back on the Earth.

Experts will spend months combing carefully through the readings, which will help them refine computer models needed to complete the development of the Ares 1 rocket. The Ares 1 is intended to transport astronauts on the first leg of missions to the moon as well as to and from the International Space Station.

Proponents of other rocket designs had questioned whether the unusual profile of the two-stage Ares 1, which is wider at the top than at the base of the spacecraft, would remain stable during the flight.

The Ares 1-X was stable.

"An early demonstration like this puts aside any doubts, I think, in our minds as to the flyability of this particular design," said Jeff Hanley, NASA's Constellation Program manager. "The performance of this vehicle was very pleasing to put it mildly."

The Ares 1-X was fabricated from an actual space shuttle solid rocket booster and hardware that simulated the Ares 1 second stage and Orion crew capsule. The actual Ares 1 first stage would be longer than the test version.

NASA's tracking cameras managed to capture the lift off of the Ares 1-X from every angle but missed the splashdown. However, a recovery ship pulled along side the rocket at the designated recovery zone in the Atlantic Ocean, an indication the parachute system also worked as intended, said NASA's Bob Ess, the Ares 1-X mission manager.

"The vehicle flew as we expected, even better than we expected," said Ess. "Obviously, this was a spectacular day."

The first launching attempt on Tuesday was scrubbed by rain and high altitude clouds, conditions that threatened to foster an unwanted build up of static charges on the outside of the ascending booster.

NASA overcame a similar forecast on Wednesday, and other obstacles.

Overnight, the area around the Ares 1-X launching pad was struck by lightning 154 times and pounded by heavy rains. With the countdown under way, engineers raced to re-test the 700 sensors and other electronic equipment on the spacecraft in time for a lift off before Wednesday's launching window closed at noon, EDT.

The Ares 1, if it reaches production, will not have to meet the same stringent weather restrictions, Hanley said.

The shuttle is facing retirement by mid-2011, as NASA completes the assembly of the International Space Station.

In a long awaited report to the White House last week, the Review of U. S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee outlined an alternative to the Ares 1, NASA's use of commercially supplied rockets to provide transportation for astronauts to and from the space station.

However, committee chairman Norm Augustine endorsed the Ares 1-X test flight.

In May, President Obama assembled the Augustine Committee to re-assess Constellation. In its final report, the committee concluded the program was chronically under funded and unable to achieve the goal of reaching the moon with astronauts by 2020.

Even the goal of launching the Ares 1 and Orion with astronauts in March 2015 was unlikely before 2017 and possibly 2018, the committee concluded.

The panel estimated NASA would not achieve a lunar landing until well into the 2030's without additional annual funding.

Under Constellation, the Orion, Ares 1 and a much larger version of the rocket called the Ares V would be launched into Earth orbit with hardware that would be joined together for a lunar mission. Multiple launches of the Ares V would be required for the future missions to Mars.

The Augustine Committee offered the White House five broad exploration options. They include a continuation of Constellation.

While missions to the moon could be possible with additional funding, the panel offered another alternative. The option features a "flex path" supporting a variety of "flyby" missions with astronauts to asteroids and Mars as well as the moon and points in space favorable for astronomical observatories.

The Augustine findings are under White House review.