NASA comes a step closer to sending humans to the Moon
January 23rd, 2009 - 4:52 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Jan 23 (ANI): NASA has completed rocket hardware critical to the first flight test of the rocket that will send humans on their way to the moon as part of the agencys Constellation Program.
Rocket hardware critical for the test, known as Ares I-X, was completed this week at NASAs Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
The flight of Ares I-X will be an important step toward verifying analysis tools and techniques needed to develop Ares I, NASAs next crew launch vehicle.
The Langley-designed and built hardware is engineered to represent the Orion crew module and a launch abort system that increases crew safety.
In late January, the rocket elements will be shipped from Langley to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This hardware and other elements from around the country will be integrated into the Ares I-X rocket, the first in a series of unpiloted test vehicles.
The test launch is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy during the summer of 2009.
It will climb about 25 miles in altitude during a two-minute powered flight, continuously measuring vehicle aerodynamics, controls and performance of the rockets first stage.
The launch will culminate with a test of the separation of the first stage from the rocket and deployment of the accompanying parachute system that will return the first stage to Earth for data and hardware recovery.
This launch will tell us what we got right and what we got wrong in the design and analysis phase, said Jonathan Cruz, deputy project manager at Langley for the Ares I-X crew module and launch abort system.
We have a lot of confidence, but we need those two minutes of flight data before NASA can continue to the next phase of rocket development, he added.
The simulated crew module and launch abort system will complete the nose of the rocket.
About 150 sensors on the hardware will measure aerodynamic pressure and temperature at the nose of the rocket and contribute to measurements of vehicle acceleration and angle of attack.
The data will help NASA understand whether the design is safe and stable in flight, a question that must be answered before astronauts begin traveling into orbit and beyond. (ANI)
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Tags: analysis phase, analysis tools, ares, crew module, crew safety, deputy project manager, first flight, flight data, flight test, hampton virginia, kennedy space center, langley research center, launch vehicle, mea, nasa, parachute system, rocket development, rocket hardware, test vehicles, vehicle aerodynamics
