NASA: Ares I-X flight test imminent!

[Omaroo]

I didn't realise that this was happening so soon! :thumbsup::D

1 day, 4 hours, 3 mins.

It still doesn't look as impressive as the Saturn V, but at 327 feet it's only 36 feet shorter, and weighs in at 1.3 million pounds - which is way lighter. It still packs 3.3 million lb of goofmph though!

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/flighttests/aresIx/index.html



Here's the NASA press kit too - it's very nice!

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/396682main_Ares_I-X-pk.pdf

[multiweb]

I thought the whole thing was going to get canned because of budget cuts at NASA and they were going to extend the life of ISS and maintain the shuttle program a bit longer. One on of the NASA big wigs was on the news not so long ago making some kind of announcement?

[Omaroo]

Would it make sense to stop testing what they've already built? :shrug:

[Octane]

Looking at that, I miss the STS already. :(

Regards,
Humayun

[DavidU]

Kewl ! About time.
Interesting they went solid fuel. You can't turn it off !
The Saturn V was a beast wasn't it.

[Jen]

:):) very cool :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Well in his words he said that's where the buck stops. So don't ask me :lol: I don't understand either what they're up to.

[tlgerdes]

Light wick and stand well clear.:question:

I love fire cracker night :D

[renormalised]

Fishing for funding...this is an old method of getting funding for something that "appears" to be in dire straits. You make out as if the thing you want funding is in danger of being cut completely, make as much noise about it as you can and then put a possible deadline on the project. Works especially well when there's some competition about, like China's space program...and then you throw in the old bogey man,"They're going to get there first. We can't allow that!!!".

Hopefully, Congress listens and then doles out the funding needed.

[Omaroo]

Here are the comparative heights of the Saturn, the Ares-I (crew) and Ares-V (gear). The A-5 is pretty impressive, but needs something. Maybe a nicer paint job?

[Omaroo]

Delays, delays..... :(

[Omaroo]

4 min. countdown to resume at 9:20am Florida time... another 14 minutes to go :)

[jjjnettie]

They're pulling the Probe Cover.
It can't be long before they start the count again.

[Octane]

It's stuck.

How embarrassing.

Regards,
Humayun

[Omaroo]

Looks...uhmm... rude ;)

[jjjnettie]

snigger snigger

[Octane]

LOL! It came off. Applause!

[Omaroo]

Yay!!!!! hehe..

[jjjnettie]

hope that didn't take anyones eye out

[Omaroo]

9:44 now? Sheesh! I'm toired... :(

[jjjnettie]

is that rain?

[Esseth]

i know i have work tomorrow, come on come on just fire it up and see what happens :P

[Octane]

Just another 15 minutes.

[Omaroo]

Looks like it Jeanette. Darn that Susan Winters!

[michaellxv]

light the fuse, it's coming straight back down anyway.

[jjjnettie]

I had visions of the whole thing toppling over.

[Omaroo]

LOL! Wouldn't technically call that a "crowd" by the clock.

[michaellxv]

funding cuts :lol:

[Esseth]

I know, how many slackers didn't show... if it was close to me id be there in a heartbeat

[Octane]

ARGH, 90 minute delay.

[Omaroo]

I'll catch the replay....

[jjjnettie]

I'm afraid I can't hold out that long.

[Esseth]

GDI, someone find that ship and tell them to GTFO

[Octane]

I'll get some kip.

[jjjnettie]

It was nice to get a look at her anyway.
G'night all.

[Nesti]

No money to keep the Coast Guard either I suppose?!

[Esseth]

Come back guys, it might be going lol

Edit, GD weather

[Omaroo]

Screeeeeeech! Back....

[citivolus]

Ooh ooh ooh, the freighter must have boogied.

[Octane]

Chris, glad you got back. Was about to SMS you. :P

[Omaroo]

Cheers dood! :) All good here! :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Oooh T -4min :D

[michaellxv]

woo hoo

[citivolus]

Now what?

[gary]

The match blew out in the wind ...

[Octane]

LOL, this is comedy gold.

[Omaroo]

Where are the cheerleaders?

[citivolus]

Ah, weather.

[strongmanmike]

Talk to Weather??? man! The sky is blue!!

[citivolus]

If you haven't seen it, this page is good:

http://countdown.ksc.nasa.gov/elv/

[strongmanmike]

Ahhh t'was the weather woman :sadeyes:

[strongmanmike]

And we think its tough looking through sucker holes :screwy:

[citivolus]

LOL, now they are.

[strongmanmike]

50 more minutes?? Bah! going to bed :zzz2:

[Omaroo]

Yup - night all :hi:

[gary]

The risk of static electricity looks like the hold-up.

[Esseth]

Yeah they are really grinding my gears...

Damn it i wanted to watch it live :(

[citivolus]

OK, so next try in 40 minutes.

[MrB]

I have the time to wait... just don't have the fat pipes... stupid dialup! :(

[mswhin63]

Startin' to get late even in Perth.

[citivolus]

...and now winds have picked up and the sucker holes are closing.

[Grahame]

mmm not looking good for a launch tonight i think :(

[MrB]

Ok, I can manage audio only.
Now trying for launch in 14 mins

[citivolus]

Getting closer...

[Grahame]

last chance! weather closing in... wind is on the limit....

hope they get closer than 2:36 this time !! :-)

[citivolus]

Scrub :(

[Octane]

Scrubbed.

[MrB]

Scrubbed.

Shower. Bed.

[Grahame]

shame about that - try again tomorrow hopefully!

[Tandum]

It's truely is a lot better on broadband than the old days on a 1200 modem.

[Grahame]

so true - and people wonder how you can use gigabytes of data download per month :-)

[MrB]

Broadb... what? :shrug:

[Grahame]

in your case MR B its high speed copper modulation and demodulation :-)

[MrB]

Oh that! It's some sort of telegraphy right?
Would that be quicker than my 56k (km per hour) carrier pidgeon?!

[Esseth]

Wooo, i wake up to find out it was scrubbed :D yay now i get another chance to watch it :D

[stephenb]

Resheduled for:

EDT (US): 08:00 Wednesday 28th
AEST: 23:00 Wednesday October 28th

[mswhin63]

:D no daylight saving here 20:00 Wednesday October 28th AWST. More opportunity to view without falling asleep. :2thumbs:

[Spanrz]

I sat up trying to watch it. Stupid cargo ship in range at the wrong time :screwy: :screwy: :mad2:...Maybe they wanted a viewing spot....Hahah
I gave up and went to bed after "No Go, 90 minute delay".

[Esseth]

Ohhh it got a lot more exciting after that, about 10 minutes later the ship was clear and the were a go and continued countdown… got to 2:39 and then they had to stop because of weather.

[Omaroo]

Are we feeling confident for tonight? :question:

[DavidU]

Yep !!:D I remember how excited I used to get during the Apollo
era (last century:sadeyes:)
I can't get NASA TV to work

[jjjnettie]

Be there or be square. :D

[Omaroo]

Square it is.

[jjjnettie]

You take things so literally Chris. :lol:
I guess, what else can you expect from someone who collects calculators. ;):P

[Octane]

David,

Forget NASA TV, you need Spacevidcast.com

Full screen HD feed, if I am not mistaken. Also, if I'm not wrong, this is the live feed, unlike the NASA TV 2-minute delayed telecast.

Also, there's running commentary under the video by chatters on the site.

Regards,
Humayun

[Omaroo]

Not a lot...:sadeyes:

[DavidU]

Cheers H I'm on it. Is it on any Foxtel channel?

[jjjnettie]

I like the change of avatar Chris.
Very nice.

[DavidU]

A more handsome pic for sure.

[jjjnettie]

Curious how he's only revealing one half of himself.
One could read a lot into that.

[Spanrz]

Yeah NasaTV is frustratingly delayed..... :(

HD FTW! :) I'll be there square and the rest too.

[Omaroo]

LOL!

Hmm....

[jjjnettie]

:screwy::rofl:

[Omaroo]

LOL Jeanette! hehe!! It's going to be one of those nights! :lol: Hopefully we get to ride along with the Ares. Can't wait!!!

[jjjnettie]

What I wouldn't give to be going up there Chris.

[Omaroo]

Yep, you and me both girl! :) What a great age we live in.

[Esseth]

Anyone know roughly what the t count is at?

[Spanrz]

Ok, live feed from Spacecast.

Man, just need a HDR photo of the rocket with the sunrise. That was such a sight yesterday.

Count is now at 1 hr :10 approx (within 5 minutes)

[jjjnettie]

But this is the next best thing.
It's going to be a great night, I'm looking forward to sharing the ride with you all.:D

[Spanrz]

Live launch is in 2 hrs 15 mins. But the above time is 1 hr 2 mins (without holds).

[AdrianF]

T - 37 mins
Upper gantry being retracted now.


Adrian

[Kal]

I have T minus 37 minutes - which would place the launch at 10:40pm Sydney time

[Spanrz]

T-36 minutes, but launch real time is 1 hr 56 minutes.
The only thing holding back is the tribulelectrification factor (however you spell it).

Awesome sight on the pad, so clear.

[jjjnettie]

How will everyone be watching it?
NasaTV or some other broadcast.

[Kal]

I'm watching it on http://www.spacevidcast.com/ which octane mentioned.

[erick]

So am I - what a great site - leaves NasaTV for dead!

[Kal]

Damn, I got it wrong, T minus time isn't the launch clock, It's still over an hour and a half away

[gary]

Hi Brett,

Close! It's called tribolelectrification with an 'o' rather than a 'u' and its a fancy
word we Electrical Engineers use to mean "static electricity". :thumbsup:

The vehicle can build up a static charge as it passes through moisture laden
clouds.

Looking nice now at sunrise!

In the words of a famous Moose, "This time for sure".

[Omaroo]

Wow - spacevidcast full-screen on the 22" monitor is fabulous!

What the heck are the announcers on though? Craaazy! LOL!

[supernova1965]

Hi all I am watching on Nasa TV as the HD on the other site does not go well with only 256kps:bashcomp:

[jjjnettie]

Sure does Eric. :)

[TrevorW]

15 minutes to go

[erick]

Countdown with music and funny commentary!

[Omaroo]

Crazy doods Eric :lol:

Huge crowd again!

[AdrianF]

I am using http://www.channelchooser.com/tv/watch/information/nasa-tv-2/270/

Adrian

[jjjnettie]

Love this Carl Sagan interlude.

[Spanrz]

Yes.....Its awesome on a 24" widescreen. Midnight on the dot, for a launch.

I think they passed it for a go??????

[TrevorW]

The interesting thing about this is that this rocket is being launched using a solid fuel primary booster

[Omaroo]

Over an hour to go yet...

[TrevorW]

Yeah I know what gives with the 4 minute hold

[DavidU]

Waiting waiting..........

[erick]

Hi back to you, JJJ

[Jen]

Hey guys what are you watching this on :confused2:

[jjjnettie]

I thought they were talking about Tribbles. :lol:

[jjjnettie]

Rum and coke Jen.:thumbsup::lol::rofl:
But if you want to watch what we're watching, go here.
http://www.spacevidcast.com/

[Jen]

Oh cool cheers to that JJJ :D
:cheers:
:thanx::thanx:

[MrB]

Try it on 45k! :mad2:

[Jen]

:D cool 776 viewers ;)

[Kal]

I thought tribbles as well, and I had to google what they were. Had a good laugh when I got the google results! :lol:

[Omaroo]

There's your answer Trevor. That's how long it takes for the computers to complete the final launch sequence just prior to launch.

[jjjnettie]

That truck pulling in in front of the launch pad really put everything into perspective.

[supernova1965]

I don't feel so hard done by now I do remember trying to do stuff on that speed
:sadeyes:

[coldspace]

Imagine if it was the ares 5, the truck woud look like a match box car:lol:.
These guys are smoking some excellent propellant fumes:P.

Great site to watch it.

Matt.

[Octane]

There was over 3,000 last night.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

This better not end up like last night. I just heard the guys say that even NASA doesn't know when it's going to launch, lol.

Regards,
Humayun

[coldspace]

Those mighty crawler transportables are over 40 years old. Its amazing that they carried out the mighty Saturn 5 with Apollo on top. then all the shuttles and now the Ares, one often over looked piece of amazing Nasa engineering. They use 125 Gallons of fuel a mile at 1 mile an hour carrying 16million lbs, not bad fuel economy :lol:.

Matt.

[Astro78]

this is much better(!), spacevid, where have you been all these years baby

[Kal]

Some random stats, comparing Ares V to Saturn V while we wait for launch.

Saturn V had a payload to Low Earth Orbit of 118 tons, and a payload to the moon of 47 tons
Ares V will have a payload to Low Earth Orbit of 188 tons, and a payload to the moon of 71 tons
Ares 1 will have a payload to Low Earth Orbit of 25 tons

[DavidU]

I'm starting to nod off.
Maybe a coffee !

[Octane]

Jeanette, I saw you chatting on svc. :D

[coldspace]

Gee, that Ares 5 is a big mother, lofting 71 T passed the moon, Mars here we come:thumbsup:, hopefully in my lifetime I will see a moon landing then a Mars landing as I was not here for the Apollo ones.

Matt.

[Omaroo]

Isn't it just amazing that we, the public, get to see all of this in such detail. Incredible really.

[jjjnettie]

:D just saying hello to my good buddy

[Kal]

Looking *possible* like a 14:30UTC launch :/ That's 1:30am Sydney time....damn tribbles

[jjjnettie]

Tribbles
:lol:

[coldspace]

I can't believe what has just happened,:mad2::mad2::mad2:
Having a great night in front of the PC watchin the Ares count down, and checking over my 3 favorite forums then went back to the Ares count down and nothing!!!
I then went to my E-mails and noticed Optus has just informed me that I have exceeded my data allowance to the end of month,so I am now slowed down to slower than dial up. This has never happened before as I have a large allowance but ever since my wife signed up to that face book site and now spends hrs ever day catching up with people it has hammered our amount. To make matters worse any upgrade to my allowance does not kick in till tommorrow, so it looks like I will miss this launch live if they launch tonight:mad2::mad2::mad2:, bloody optus, of all nights tonight I was staying up drinking beers and having some fun and you go and spoil it. Well off to bed for me now.
Hopefully its on the late night news unless anyone else has any other sujestions that works at dial up speed.

Matt.

[michaellxv]

Flight Rules and Triboelectrification (What the Heck is That?) (http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/Ares%20I-X.blog/posts/post_1256648398611.html)

http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/Ares%20I-X

about a third down for those who were wondering.

[Octane]

Matt,

I feel for you.

I've been loading the spacevidcast site up very sporadically, as, I can feel I'm almost about to blow my cap, too. :)

F*c*b**k is the devil.

Regards,
Humayun

[erick]

Damn those tribbles! Time for me to give up. Night all.

[Spanrz]

It's delayed another hour, about 10:30am US eastern. About 1:30am AEDT.

Dam it.. I have to hit the bed......

[TrevorW]

Stuff this I'm going to bed watching paint dry is more interesting sorry

they can fly jumbo jets with 300 people on them in stormy weather and yet they can't launch a rocket due to 4 lightning strikes

Sorry we can't launch today

unless

a) it's totally clear blue skies, no wind
b) thers no plane within a 100 miles
c) no birds
d) someone let the cat out
e) everything working 110%

no wonder the space programs going down the gurgler and the publics losing interest

[Esseth]

Yeah ditto :( God damn triboelectrification, as cool as the word sounds its so annoying.

[coldspace]

and f,
when Matt's broard band is back up and running.
They will launch tommorrow night now.

Matt.

[Kal]

I gotta hit the sack as well, or I'll pay the price at work tomorrow. Hopefully I catch a successful launch on the news tomorrow.

[Octane]

Game over. It'll probably be scrubbed, anyway.

Goodnight, IIS.

Regards,
Humayun

[coldspace]

If it wasn't cloudy here I would be out in the observatory, and now my broard band has crashed its good night from me as well.

Matt.

[leinad]

Ready for launch. Waiting on the clouds/weather approval
Good thing it's only 1030pm here in W.A :D

[erick]

I had things to do. So I've come back. Goodie! L -9min!

[erick]

Nope - pushing it back again. I'm off to bed.

[citivolus]

~10 minutes if things go well.

[citivolus]

Bah, speak too soon.

[citivolus]

Dare I say we are close now? Resuming count.

[MrB]

T-4 and counting.....
I've lost vid... audio only :(

[FredSnerd]

there counting

[FredSnerd]

Its looken good right

[MrB]

Away she goes....
Great audio... black screen.... I wanna bomb a few telco's right about now

[FredSnerd]

Thats too bad Simon. She did look good but thers not much to see now

[FredSnerd]

well. Time to hit the sack

[Clarry]

Great sight. Funny thing is, when it separated, it seemed to me the first stage turned the second stage around. Everything seems OK though, must have been an illusion.

[citivolus]

The first stage fires some retro rockets to rotate it and prevent it from re-contacting the second stage. I suspect that as the second stage was a dummy stage, the rotation occurred somewhat differently from how it would in a "normal" launch.

I woke my 4 year old daughter up for the last minute of the countdown, and the launch. She really enjoyed it :) I had two video feeds running on the laptop, including one from the VAB for an alternate view.

[michaellxv]

that was cool, glad I stayed up.

:2thumbs:

but really need some sleep now

:zzz::zzz::zzz:

[leinad]

Amazing!!!
They're replaying footage from the various cameras now. Magical to watch.

Watching the footage suddenly reminded me of the movie Gattaca, where constantly Vincent watches the rockets launching into the sky destined for Saturns moon - Titan :D

[Clarry]

Maybe, I watched a simulated video the other day that showed the second stage continuing on then releasing the top capsule. Each part then parachuted back to Earth.

[jjjnettie]

As much as I loved watching this in HD. Never again.
It's used up half my monthly internet usage!!!

[Esseth]

Yeah it used a chunk of mine as well, good thing its the 29th only a few days til reset.

[jjjnettie]

LOL
I'm on a 2 gig plan for $40, for an extra $10 a month I can go up to 80gig.
Might be the go I think.

[Esseth]

yeah im on 50gig, 25 gig on peak and 25 off. but the off peak is only from 2am until 9am.

[AdrianF]

I needed my beauty sleep do went to bed when they reset the launch clock with 5 mins(?) to go :( not sure of the exact moment as I was making a coffee to stay awake when someone in the house laughed and said "have a look at this" I thought I had missed the launch .

Adrian

[jjjnettie]

I couldn't go the distance either.
Damn tribbles.

[Omaroo]

Yup - another "flaker" here. LOL!

Was great to catch up with it this morning though. I'm not sure why, but it gave the impression of being slower off the pad than the Saturn V, but maybe that was just me. :shrug: Once it got going it certainly motored!

ADSL? I'm on a TPG 8mbps business plan at home with no limits. Very nice.

[AdrianF]

I have just watched the replay of the launch on NASA TV and I am assuming that both modules parachuted back to earth after separation. Can not watch the replay on Spacevidcast, I am at work and we only have IE6 (damn govt PC's) and it wont support the site. Will wait until tonight when I get home.

Adrian

[supernova1965]

I don't know if this is applicable to anyone but I thought someone might be interested in my IP
http://www.tadaustconnect.org.au/

ADSL Plan Type
256 kbps
512 kbps Super
1.5 Mbps Silver
8Mbps Gold
Included Data
12 GB
12 GB
12 GB
12 GB
Must Include a Home Phone Plan
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Monthly Broadband Charge
$29.95
$49.95
$59.95
$79.95

[TrevorW]

$454 million to test a rocket

you think by now they'd get it right

at least the could have launched something not to expensive like some science project costing a few million extra

[Octane]

Better that $454 million spent on a test of a rocket than to go into the pocket of some useless soccer player or golfer.

Regards,
Humayun

[leinad]

Well funded money that already benefits science and engineering IMHO.

Not like it's 3 Trillion dollars spent that has no benefit to tax payers and humanity whatsoever?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html

[TrevorW]

We are talking about a solid fuel booster here no much in the way of new technology and it has been successfully static tested

If they insist on launching it with nothing acheived apart from,

"well it works"

it's a waste of resource's but who cares it's only public money

likewise the war's the USA are spending billions on.

[leinad]

Bit cynical Trev.

There's a major difference though between a static test and a live launch test..

[DavidU]

I nodded off last night with the laptop on my knees sitting in a recliner.LOL
BUGGER! Missed it.

[jjjnettie]

Isn't the rocket tethered for a static test?

[Omaroo]

Agreed. The Ares is a completely new SYSTEM. The fact that they used existing technology to push gas out the rear has nothing to do with the rest of the guidance electronics and telemetry system architecture, though to the brand new pad & tower complex, ground ops and new systems installed in the brand-spankin' Young/Crippen control centre. There was a lot to test.

[DavidU]

I would love to see a shock wave image from it during the first 1.3min of flight. It has an unusual shape.

[TrevorW]

Sorry for being cynical I've become this way from working in the public service for the last 7 years and seeing how much money gets wasted by people trying to justify their existence and that they are doing a good job for supposedly the benefit of the public.

Lets just say we will disagree on this.

[Octane]

Trevor,

Would you like to see the space program shut down?

The reason I ask is because it's never going to be cheap. How much did each Shuttle launch cost, $1 billion, or so?

Regards,
Humayun

[Kal]

lol, I work in the private sector and I am cynical because I have seen the top end directors/managers take constant annual multi-million dollar wage increases after squeezing the blood out of the company to live on an business model that lasts 30 days!

Public/private.....I think both sectors are screwed, but we are getting a bit off topic here ;)

[Nesti]

Hey, I was watching the launch on YouTube...did the booster induce a spin on the upper stage when it separated? Sure looked like it to me.

Back to the thread...

I'm happy for governments to spend money on [provable and usable] science, just not warfare science: 11 years as a soldier, I know first hand it's pointless and wasteful.

Wasting money on going to Mars is just crap too. Spend that money fixing up our own planet first rather than infesting the cosmos with our junk. Large nuclear furnaces would be nice start, to burn our 'difficult' waste.

Go to Mars when we know how to clean up in our wake I say!

[FredSnerd]

I personally find it hard to begrudge any $$$ going to space explorartion. To me its like exploring the oceans in the 15th century. You just had to do it.

[stephenb]

I agree with you there, Claude :thumbsup:

[mswhin63]

Here here keep flying I agree.

We already know how to save the earth it is just a process to get greedy oil barrens and the cows to consider other options (yeah right).

[Nesti]

I do agree however, manned spaceflight is so much more costly and complex than probes.

I think that the new age of robotics will show us the direction we need to take. More bang for your buck.

[Octane]

Mark,

Whilst that'll be cheaper in the long run, I suppose complete robotics will take away the romance behind actual Man going into space.

It's a hard one. :S

Regards,
Humayun

[TrevorW]

I've become a bit cynical in relation to manned space flight development in the sense that in 13 years the USA spent in todays $$$ 145 billion on 6 successful lunar landings and for what.

36 years latter they are now just looking at going back why did they stop.

Cynical one wonders if the Apollo missions diverted a lot of attention away from the Vietnam war.

The US Govt has apparently now spent more than $3 trillion dollars on the Afghan and Iraq wars and for what.

More than was spent on the Vietnam war and not as much as was spent of WW2

I wonder what could have been achieved if this money had been diverted to space exploration

I've become cynical because as a lad of 15, I watched the Apollo missions and thought of the potential for the exploration and colonisation of our solar system and dreamed of the possibility of me going into space in my own lifetime.

Now as I've grown older I ponder the future of our race and why we continually waste huge amounts of money supporting industries that thrive on human conflict when as a girl recently said in a speech too the UN, we could do so much more to reduce the problems facing our own planet and those that live upon it.

I listened to that speech and new she was right even shed a tear but yet knew I was powerless too change the situation.

No I do support space exploration as I honestly believe it is our final frontier.

[Nesti]

2001 a Space Oddessy was romantic too, but it didn't exactly happen...but we did get phone cards!

[Nesti]

TrevorW
Dude, that Avatar/Emoticon of yours is messing with my psyche!

"I've become a bit cynical"...hmmmm :P

[FredSnerd]

Trevor,

You're the man, no doubt. And I definitely know where your coming from with this cynicism thing. Only ... about that Avatar. I think maybe Mark might have a point.

[TrevorW]

Isn't the avatar expressive of how we all feel sometimes alas some more than others, so maybe the bit cynical remark was an understatement.

I'll get off my soapbox now