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Ares 1-X Ready On Pad, Launch Set For 1200 GMT
DynaSoar writes "NASA's new Ares I-X rocket is undergoing final preparations for its planned launch test Tuesday, October 27. Launch time is scheduled for 8 AM EDT (1200 GMT). As of noon Monday it appeared that there was a 60% chance of showers and/or high altitude clouds interfering. However, the launch has a an eight hour window of opportunity through 2000 GMT, and would require only 10 minutes of clear skies within that time to fly. Of interest to engineering types, both those who favor the new vehicle's design and its critics, will be to see whether the predicted linear 'pogo stick' oscillation will occur, and whether the dampening design built into it prevents damaging and possibly destructive shaking. Extensive coverage is being presented by Space.com; for NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit nasa.gov/ntv." Update 15:37 GMT by timothy: The weather did not cooperate; today's planned launch has been scrubbed.
Though I have always adored the thought and reality of space travel--this is just a luxury we cannot afford now. There is no pressing problem that would cause this need to travel to the Moon or Mars to occur.
We have so many problems in the United States right now and I really don't see why this is necessary. Since this just recycles Space Shuttle technology, I don't see that this Ares I rocket represents any innovation that would justify the expense.
Though I know all the Aerospace Engineers are going to hate me for killing off their jobs program, there are other scientific needs--such as the need to develop clean energy sources and stop global Climate Change in its tracks--that warrant priority over any dough we spend at NASA.
Example of International Space Station
Currently, for example, the ISS is slated to be decommissioned in a few short years. I ask you, what sort of great innovation has resulted from the ISS? I am hard-pressed to think of any great advances in knowledge that were not already known from by the time the cruddy but long-surviving MIR burned up in the atmosphere.
Again, though I adore seeing these rockets take off and follow every STS-n mission with great interest, it's just a joyride and is not justified in a country like ours that is in danger of becoming a has-been global power.
NASA should halt the Ares-I and, even more painful because it would have been the biggest rocket to date, the Ares V. They are boondoggles that do not solve a pressing problem.
Burt Rutan has produced a small, suborbital toy for billionaires. The private sector has been free to get into space for decades, and hasn't done so. But then again, the private sector hasn't delivered a reliable banking system or a method of food distribution that does cause unnecessary deaths, so meh.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
People like you is why the rest of the world hates USA (and not Canada)
This is blinging