By Marina Malenic
After a day-long weather-related delay, NASA yesterday launched a next-generation moon rocket that could replace the Space Shuttle.
At 1130 EST, the 177-foot-tall Ares I-X took off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., and flew for six minutes before splashing down into the Atlantic.
Ares prime contractor ATK [ATK] hailed the successful launch of the rocket and, potentially, a new moon mission by 2020.
“This flight test is the culmination of four years of progress and is the critical first step to launching America beyond low earth orbit, signifying the beginning of a new era for the American space program,” said Mike Kahn, ATK Space Systems executive vice president. “The Ares I architecture provides unmatched crew safety and performance for payload capacity, all while utilizing existing infrastructure.”
The Ares I-X First Stage is comprised of a four-segment Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) originally produced for the Space Shuttle Program and some newly designed hardware. The solid rocket motor cases used for Ares I-X have collectively flown on 30 previous shuttle missions and will continue to be reused for the Ares program, according to ATK.
The solid rocket motors were produced at ATK’s facility in Promontory, Utah, and the new hardware was manufactured by Major Tool and Machine Inc. in Indianapolis, Ind., under a contract to ATK.
The launch is a critical milestone in the development of NASA’s Constellation Program.
However, a blue-ribbon panel reviewing NASA’s human spaceflight program has said that the current Constellation program, intended to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020, cannot succeed with its current budget. The Augustine Commission’s report concludes that a $3 billion annual NASA budget increase is needed to continue with meaningful space exploration.
Ares is part of the Constellation program, one of the five options studied by the commission. In addition to the Ares I launch vehicle built by ATK and Boeing [BA], Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] developmental Orion capsule and the longer-term Ares V heavy-lift rocket and Altair lunar lander are part of the program.
Ares substitutes offered in the list of options include commercial launch services that would carry crew to low-earth orbit, and heavy-lifter launchers that would be derived from the retiring space shuttle or be commercial variations of the Pentagon’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV).
The Ares I-X yesterday carried more than 700 sensors to collect data during its flight that will allow engineers to refine their designs, NASA officials have said.