NASA's Ares I-X Rocket Delayed by Stray Boat, Weather

Brian Handwerk and Victoria Jaggard
for National Geographic News

October 27, 2009

NASA's Ares I-X rocket launch has been scrubbed for Tuesday morning due to clouds and winds, a stuck probe cover, and an unexpected cargo ship in the rocket's "danger zone."

"We had some opportunities, but just couldn't get there," launch test director Jeff Spaulding told the team. "Weather didn't cooperate."

Although weather for tomorrow is "better, but not great," according to NASA officials, Ares I-X mission managers decided to set another launch attempt for Wednesday, October 28, at 8 a.m. ET.

Ares I-X, Stop-and-Go for Launch

Kicking off hours of launch attempts, this morning's planned 8 a.m. ET launch went on hold due to concerns over high upper-level winds that would have affected the rocket's trajectory.

In addition, NASA launch managers were concerned about shifting cloud cover over Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

Clouds carry a dual risk of electrical dangers and disruption of rocket-to-ground communications, which would prevent the streaming flow of performance data that would make the Ares test drive so valuable.

Anticipating a break in the weather, at 9:23 a.m. mission managers ordered technicians to pull back a cloth that had been protecting a probe and air-temperature gauge on top of the rocket. Those instruments are meant to provide data on speed, pressure, and angle of ascent.

In yet another snag, however, the cover did not fall away completely, and its thick cord became tangled on the rocket's tip. Three minutes later the cord came free, and a new launch time was set for 9:44 a.m.

Wayward Ship Stymies Ares Launch

At 9:30 a.m. weather officers gave the launch the green light, and the pelaunch sequences began.

But within five minutes word came in to halt the launch because of a cargo ship that had been spotted in waters within the so-called danger zone, the region where ships are at risk from falling debris.

Launch sequences resumed at 9:43 a.m., only to be stalled again by clouds moving into the rocket's flight path.

Weather concerns continued to reset the launch clock until mission managers made the call at 11:23 a.m. to scrub today's attempt.

Hopes for Ares I-X

When Ares I-X does launch, mission managers are hopeful that the $450-million empty rocket will prove to be a first concrete step toward returning humans to the moon and beyond.

The Ares I-X—the largest rocket in the world at 327 feet (99.6 meters) tall—is a test version of a system designed to carry a four- to six-person crew capsule, dubbed Orion.

(See pictures of Ares, Orion, and other craft in NASA's plans to return humans to the moon.)

Ares and Orion are slated to become NASA's primary means of ferrying people and supplies into space by 2017. The craft will replace the space shuttle program, which is due to retire in 2010.

Ares I-X is a full-scale simulation that will launch carrying a mock Orion capsule and launch-abort system.

According to NASA, more than 700 onboard sensors will be busy collecting data during the rocket's roughly six-minute flight.

This information "will be used to verify the effectiveness of the rocket's design and ensure that it is safe and stable in flight before astronauts begin traveling into orbit."

Ares I-X Flight Plan

In a real Ares I rocket the first part, or stage, would propel the craft into space at up to four times the speed of sound.

The first stage would then separate, and the second stage would provide enough thrust to maneuver the Orion capsule into Earth orbit.

NASA eventually plans to build an Ares V rocket, which would work in tandem with Ares I. Ares V would deliver the Altair lunar lander into orbit, where it would rendezvous with Orion, fire its engines to break free from Earth's gravity, and speed toward the moon.

(Related: "First Moon 'Skylight' Found—Could House Lunar Base?")

The Ares I-X test rocket is similar in size and mass to the real deal. But only the first stage includes working hardware: a solid-rocket motor from the space shuttle, flight hardware adapted from an Atlas V rocket, and a set of newly designed parachutes.

The upper stage and crew capsule are mockups designed to simulate the shape and weight of the real pieces the Ares I rocket will need to carry into space.

At two minutes into the Ares I-X flight, the first stage should separate at about 130,000 feet (39,624 meters) and fall back down to reenter Earth's atmosphere, parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean for recovery.

The simulated upper stage and crew capsule should continue without NASA's control up to 28 miles (45 kilometers) above Earth's surface before falling back through the atmosphere and crashing into the Atlantic.

The upper section of Ares I-X will not be recovered.

Ares Rocket a Lost Cause?

The Ares I-X launch will test NASA's first new human-powered vehicle since the space shuttle was unveiled in the 1980s.

NASA hopes the Ares I-X launch will signal the beginning of a brave new era for space exploration. But some experts argue that the rocket is simply the expenditure of some very costly hot air.

Given the high price tag, some vocal critics—including legendary moonwalker Buzz Aldrin—want to pull the plug on the new Ares rockets and rely on mission-tested Delta IV or Atlas V rockets, modified for new missions.

(Related: "Buzz Aldrin, First Man (to Pee) on the Moon, Sounds Off.")

Others have proposed designing new crew vehicles that will work with existing lift components from the space shuttle. This plan would deliver a less powerful but far cheaper way to return to the moon, though not beyond.

And earlier this month, a panel of experts dubbed the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee reported that upcoming funding shortages could force NASA to curb many of its ambitious plans, including Ares.

But committee members are quick to point out that the rocket was not given an absolute death knell.

"Comments in the blogosphere that we [recommended] killing Ares are just not true," said committee member and former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao.

"We presented options [for the future of human spaceflight]—that was our mandate—and Ares I appears in two of the options."

Final decisions on NASA's future actions will be made in Congress and the White House.

"It's far from certain what path the [Obama] Administration is going to choose," Chiao said. "There are options that include Ares and options that do not include Ares, so the jury is still out."