NASA: Moon-bound Ares rocket could blast off ahead of schedule

by Stevie Smith - Oct 30 2008, 14:00

Despite supposedly being stymied by recent funding limitations that saw NASA forced to delay the readiness of its planned moon rocket mission until 2015, space administration officials have said they believe a test launch could be a reality a full year earlier.

The possible calendar jump has been intimated by Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA’s ambitious Constellation project, which should see U.S. astronauts journeying back to the moon for the first time since the groundbreaking Apollo missions.

“We’re shooting for a more aggressive date of September 2014,” said Hanley, who even said NASA is exploring ways to further speed up the process to see its manned Ares rocket blasting clear of the launch pad 18 months ahead of schedule.

NASA’s comments come as it continues to work through a two-month study examining all possible options for moving the Ares test launch from its current March 2015 date. The study is expected to be completed during the early part of December.

Prior to NASA’s proposed schedule shuffle, AP reports that members of Congress had expressed their concerns regarding the five-year mission gap that will see the U.S. relying on Russia for providing passage to and from the International Space Station (ISS) once the space shuttle is decommissioned in 2010.

When successfully introduced, the Ares rocket and its accompanying Orion capsule would initially be used to ferry ISS crew before eventually expanding its coverage to include manned missions to the moon beginning in 2020.

In related Ares news, NASA has also moved to quash mounting safety rumours suggesting that persistent vibration problems could injure the crew, while the rocket may crash into its launch tower before being able to blast clear.

A NASA representative has said any possible drift caused during launch would require a southerly wind of 39mph or higher, and that any such resulting movement could be compensated for through the vehicle’s steering system or by applying tighter wind constraints.

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