Watch Simulated Ares 1 Test Rocket Summer 2009 Launch
Ares I test rocket, 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 1 Test Rocket getting ready
The engine testing has been completed for the Ares 1 Test Rocket and is successful. The exciting part will be to watch each of the test flights from Kennedy Space Center here on the Space Coast as they put the Ares 1 Test Rocket through each phase. The flight of the Ares 1 Test Rocket will be an important step toward verifying analysis needed to further develop Ares I, NASA’s next launch vehicle.
In order to ensure that the Ares 1 Test Rocket flight characteristics are fully understood, extreme care is being taken to precisely fabricate the rocket’s simulated upper stage and the simulated Orion crew module and associated launch abort tower. These full-scale hardware components must accurately reflect the shape and physical properties of the Ares 1 Test Rocket used in computer analyses and wind tunnel tests in order to confidently compare flight results with preflight predictions.