The Ares I-X avionics system is known as the “brains of theoperation.” Last week the first stage avionics were installedin the third, or aft, piece of the fifth segment simulator in the VehicleAssembly Building at KSC.
Avionics controlevery active portion of the test flight, from liftoff to navigation to datacollection and parachute deployment. In addition to controlling the rocket, theavionics will be collecting, transmitting, and storing engineering data before,during, and after the flight. The information gathered by the avionics systemwill be incorporated into further computer simulations and analyses to helpNASA better understand how the Ares I crew launch vehicle will fly and interactwith its environment.
Avionics hardwareis being installed in nearly every part of the Ares I-X flight test vehicle,from the crew module and launch abort system simulators to the aft skirt of thefirst stage.
You can read more about Ares I-X avionics on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares_I-X
Ares I-X is growing smarter everyday!
These pictures are AWESOME! And I just want to say thanks to everyone that is working so hard to put that baby together. It is so great to see the culmination of so much coming together so well. Keep up the excellent work. We may come by and see you when we come down for the STS-125 Launch.
Peace,
The Co-Host