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With the Florida region finally clear of inclement weather conditions, NASA has put Tuesday’s disruptive delay behind it and successfully completed a brief sub-orbital test flight of its experimental Ares 1-X rocket.
Ares 1-X finally completes its test flight. Image: NASA.
Blasting skyward from Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center, the unmanned 327-foot rocket was packed with a dummy payload and hundreds of sensors in order to allow NASA to gather important flight data and monitor its first stage separation process.
“Oh, man. Well, how impressive is that?” enthused Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA’s Constellation space program. “You’ve accomplished a great step forward for exploration,” he said to mission launch controllers at Cape Canaveral.
Hurtling into a predominantly clear sky at 11:30 EST on Wednesday, the Ares 1-X test flight represents the first time NASA has launched new rocket technology towards the stars since the space shuttle Columbia’s maiden voyage in 1981.
Coupled with NASA’s similarly new Orion space capsule, the Ares 1-X rocket has been designed to replace the ageing space shuttle fleet as NASA strives to extend its manned missions into the solar system.
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