Preparations for NASA's Ares I-X test flight progressed steadily at Kennedy Space Center in early 2009. During the first few months of the year, major hardware elements of the vehicle were delivered to KSC, including the launch abort tower, Orion spacecraft and upperstage simulator segment. In March, the last components of Ares I-X, the solid rocket booster segments that will power the vehicle arrived at Kennedy.
VIDEO: MLP-1 IS MOVED TO THE VAB FOR ARES I-X STACKING VIDEO: MLP-1 SOUND SUPPRESSION WATER SYSTEM TEST VIDEO: MLP-1 IS HANDED OVER FOR ARES I-X VIDEO: ARES I-X BOOSTER ARRIVES AT KSC Once all major pieces of hardware had arrived, work began to integrate and stack the Ares I-X rocket in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The launch platform that will be used for the launch, MLP-1, was handed over to the Constellation program following the launch of STS-119. On April 15, MLP-1 was moved into the VAB to begin stacking the vhicle on the platform. The stacking operation of the combined crew module and launch abort system tower will be used to demonstrate lifting, handling and stacking of Ares I-X flight test vehicle elements. Ares I-X, the first Ares I test rocket with a simulated upper stage and Orion, will lift off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. in the summer of 2009. It will climb about 25 miles in a two-minute powered test of Ares I first stage performance and its first stage separation and parachute recovery system. Ares I-X will provide important data for developing Ares I in time to support the vehicle's Critical Design Review in 2010. Sensors will measure aerodynamic pressure and temperature at the nose of the rocket, and contribute to measurements of vehicle acceleration and angle of attack. How the tip of the rocket slices through the atmosphere is important because that determines the flow of air over the entire vehicle. "This launch will tell us what we got right and what we got wrong in the design and analysis phase," said Jonathan Cruz, deputy project manager for Ares I-X CM/LAS. "We have a lot of confidence, but we need those two minutes of flight data before NASA can continue to the next phase of rocket development," he said. The simulated crew module, faithful to the vehicle that will ferry astronauts to the International Space Station by 2015, to the moon in the 2020 timeframe and ultimately to points beyond, will measure approximately 16.4 ft in diameter. While the conical module will have the same basic shape as the Apollo Command Module, it will be significantly larger. The simulated launch abort system, positioned above the crew module at launch, will add another 46 feet in length to the combined simulator. The combined crew module and escape tower will be attached to the upper stage simulator and new interstage frustum section. The frustum will connect the upper stage to the solid-fueled first stage, a standard 4-segment shuttle solid rocket booster with a simulated 5th segment on top. The complete vehicle will be stacked on top of MLP-1 before being moved to Launch Complex 39-B for launch in August. (The Spacearium / Space Media Corporation)
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