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Ares I-X Flight Test - The Future Begins HereIn less than two years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will launch the Ares I-X mission. This will be the first flight of the Ares I crew launch vehicle, which, together with the Ares V cargo launch vehicle, will eventually send humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. As the countdown to this first Ares mission continues, personnel from across the Ares I-X Mission Management Office (MMO) are finalizing designs and fabricating vehicle hardware for an April 2009 launch. This paper will discuss the hardware and programmatic progress of the Ares I-X mission. Like the Apollo program, the Ares launch vehicles will rely upon extensive ground, flight, and orbital testing before sending the Orion crew exploration vehicle into space with humans on board. The first flight of Ares I, designated Ares I-X, will be a suborbital development flight test. Ares I-X gives NASA its first opportunity to gather critical data about the flight dynamics of the integrated launch vehicle stack; understand how to control its roll during flight; better characterize the severe stage separation environments that the upper stage engine will experience during future operational flights; and demonstrate the first stage recovery system. NASA also will begin modifying the launch infrastructure and fine-tuning ground and mission operations, as the agency makes the transition from the Space Shuttle to the Ares/Orion system.
Document ID
20090008537
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Davis, Stephan R. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
September 9, 2008
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
MSFC-2051
Meeting Information
Meeting: AIAA Space 2008
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: September 9, 2008
End Date: September 11, 2008
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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