| Posted on Oct 19, 2009 03:30:46 PM | Dan Kanigan | 9 Comments | |
-
So we’re right down to it now. The team is busy making final preparations before the huge door on the Vehicle Assembly Building rolls up and the rocket inches its way out and down the 4.2-mile track to launch pad 39B.
Right now things look pretty good for tonight’s rollout. The giant crawler-transporter is ready, the team is working through their checklists and even the weather appears to be cooperating. (knock on wood) The forecast is projecting peak winds tonight at Kennedy Space Center at 26mph, (23 knots) which is well within our guideline limit of 35 mph. (30.5 knots) As it stands this afternoon, there is a 10% overall chance of weather criteria violation during the roll to the launch pad.
First motion is scheduled for 12:01 EDT and the trip is expected to take about 7 hours. I guess that’s what you get when you travel 4.2 miles at a top speed of 0.8 miles per hour.
Tags : General
Good luck to the launch team and the engineers who are tasting the excitement of the new, as Von Braun once said. It's encouraging to my aging eyes to see a new generation of launch vehicles and spacecraft trundling out to the old Apollo launch pads seared with the paths of explorations past. But there's twinge of sadness seeing Aries, this rather slight missile, pass through the same VAB doors that opened for the more muscular shuttle stack and those massive Saturn V's and Saturn IB's of yesteryear. Aries brings to mind images of the first Mercury/Redstones. Perhaps that's appropriate as this new era begins to become a reality. But we'll be watching next Tuesday and confident for a successful liftoff.
SORRY 12.01 AM OR PM EDT THANKS
YES!! I've been waiting for this day for years. Finally Project Constellation is making progress. I can't wait to see the Ares I ready to go.
Good Luck Ares I-X! Let's have a perfect launch and prove all those doubters and naysayers wrong! Its time to show the world that NASA and Ares are ready for primetime. I'll be getting up at 5AM here on the West Coast to watch the launch on Oct. 27th.
Shoot for the Stars!
Yes! I've been waiting for this day for years. Finally Project Constellation is making progress. I can't wait to see the Ares I ready to go.
finally, I cant wait to see ATLANTIS on pad A and ARES 1X sitting on pad B. I haven't been this excited about seeing a new vehicle at pad 39 since COLUMBIA'S maiden flight...GO NASA!!
It will be one small step for Ares, but one giant leap in our return to the moon.
Congratulations on the rollout, Ares I-X team! This is a great day, indeed. The bird looks magnificent bathed in searchlights as it emerges from the VAB. Can't wait to see her soar next week.
GO ARES I-X!!!
sorry 12:01 AM or PM EDT !!