NASA Ares 1-X Status Report 4 August 2009

Launch Vehicle: Ares I-X
Launch Date: Oct. 31, pending final NASA Headquarters approval
Launch Pad: 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Ares I-X Flight Hardware
Last week’s milestones include:
– Super Stack 1 lift and mate to the RSRM on MLP 1 in Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 3 (VAB HB3)
– Electrical instrumentation testing

Next processing milestones:
– Super Stack 2 lift and mate to Super Stack 1 on MLP 1 in VAB HB3
– Ballasts, or weights, will be placed into Super Stack 2
– Super Stack 3 lift and mate to Super Stack 2 on MLP 1 in VAB HB3

Ares I-X Ground Support Equipment
– At Launch Pad 39B, modifications are ongoing.

The Ares I-X flight test will provide NASA an early opportunity to check and prove hardware, analysis and modeling methods, and facilities and ground operations needed to develop the Ares I, which is NASA’s next crew launch vehicle. The test also will allow NASA to gather critical data during the ascent of the integrated stack, which will help inform the design of the Ares I rocket and the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The data will ensure the entire vehicle system is safe and fully operational before astronauts begin traveling in it to the International Space Station and moon.

For more information about the Ares I-X flight test, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ares

Previous status reports are available at: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/moonandmars/status/index.html