Ares I-X

Launch & landing data: Launch date - time  28 October 2009 - 15:30 UTC Launch site  KSC, LC-39B Launch vehicle  Ares I-X vehicle) First stage  4-segment SRB Mass (kg)   Mission  Orion Abort Test Booster Operator  NASA Sub-orbital flight:    Apogee  45 km (28 miles) Flight Duration  6 min

Ares I-X path

Description:

• Ares I-X was the first-stage prototype and design concept demonstrator of Ares I, a launch system for human spaceflight developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Ares I-X was successfully launched on October 28, 2009. The project cost was $445 million. It was the final launch from LC-39B until Artemis I, which launched 13 years later.
• The Ares I-X vehicle used in the test flight was similar in shape, mass, and size to the planned configuration of later Ares I vehicles, but had largely dissimilar internal hardware consisting of only one powered stage. Ares I vehicles were intended to launch Orion crew exploration vehicles. Along with the Ares V launch system and the Altair lunar lander, Ares I and Orion were part of NASA's Constellation program, which was developing spacecraft for U.S. human spaceflight after the Space Shuttle retirement.

Two minutes after launch, the Ares I-X's expended Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) first stage was detached from the unpowered Upper Stage Simulator (USS); both landed in the Atlantic Ocean

Ares I before launch

Rollout of Ares I-X at KSC LC-39, secured by four bolts on a mobile launcher platform.

Ares I-X launch

Mission details:

• October 27, 2009 (Launch attempt 1)
  Ares I-X had been scheduled for launch on October 27, 2009, the 48th anniversary of the first Saturn I launch. The launch attempt was delayed due to weather plus other last-minute concerns. The ground crew experienced difficulty removing a protective cover from an important nose-mounted five-port sensor package. A private watercraft had blundered into the restricted downrange safety zone and had to be chased away. Launching through the day's high cirrus clouds could have caused triboelectrification, potentially interfering with range safety communication and hampering the RSO's ability to issue the self-destruction command. Launch Director Ed Mango repeatedly delayed resumption of the countdown from the planned hold point at T-00:04:00. Ultimately, constraints of the 4-hour launch window, coupled with high clouds and other last-minute concerns, caused the mission to be scrubbed for the day at 15:20 UTC on October 27, 2009. Launch was rescheduled for a four-hour window opening at 12:00 UTC on October 28, 2009.
• October 28, 2009 (Launch)
  Ares I-X launched on October 28, 2009, at 11:30 EDT (15:30 UTC) from Kennedy Space Center LC-39B, successfully completing a brief test flight. The vehicle's first stage ignited at T-0 seconds and Ares I-X lifted off from Launch Complex 39B. The first stage separated from the upper-stage simulator and parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean roughly 150 miles (240 km) downrange of the launch site. The maximum altitude of the rocket was not immediately known, but had been expected to be 28 miles (45 km).
• The launch accomplished all primary test objectives, and many lessons were learned in preparing and launching a new vehicle from Kennedy Space Center.

External links:

• Wikipedia: Ares I Information

Astrophilately covers:

Ares I-X launch, cancel KSC. Credit #411