NASA Rocket Launch: Ares I-X Delayed by Weather

UPDATE: View the Ares 1-X launch video here.

Tuesday morning’s NASA rocket launch of the Ares I-X rocket had to be postponed due to weather, a stuck probe cover, and a surprise cargo ship in the rocket’s “danger zone.”

“We had some opportunities, but just couldn’t get there,” test director Jeff Spaulding said. “Weather didn’t cooperate.”

The Ares I-X team has set another launch attempt for Wednesday, October 28, at 8 a.m. EDT.

This morning’s first planned launch attempt, at 8 a.m. EDT, had to be put on hold due to high upper-level winds.  NASA launch managers were also worried about cloud cover over Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

Noticing a break in the clouds, at 9:23 a.m. managers told technicians to remove the cloth that covered a probe meant to provide data on speed, pressure, and ascent angle.

The cover, however, didn’t come off smoothly and its cord got stuck on the tip of the rocket.  Once the cord was freed, the launch time was moved to 9:44 a.m.

At 9:35 a.m., however, a cargo ship was seen in waters within the “danger zone,” where ships are at risk from falling debris.

The launch sequence resumed at around 9:43 a.m., but was stopped once again by clouds advancing into the rocket’s flight path.

Weather continued to be an issue, and at 11:23 a.m. mission managers decided to to scrub today’s launch.

The $450-million empty rocket should be the first step toward returning humans to space.

The Ares I-X is the world’s biggest rocket at 327 feet (99.6 meters) tall. It is merely a test version of a system designed to transport a small 4 – 6 person crew capsule, called Orion.

Ares and Orion will become NASA’s vehicles of choice for ferrying people (and supplies) into space by 2017. They should replace the space shuttle program, which ends in 2010.

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