August 27, 1PM is the latest scheduled target for test firing ATK’s five-segment motor for the Ares I. It was supposed to be yesterday at 1 PM… for which I had several guests who drove 2000 friggen’ miles to see. But ATK rescheduled at kinda the last minute, and my guests had to turn around and drive all the way home due to other committments. Bah.
Anyway, I drove by the place today and took some shots with the new camera and telephoto lens to make sure they’d work properly; it seems that they will. Based on the setup with dozens of portapotties, it seems ATK is expecting a hell of a crowd.
The test stand, from the public viewing area about 8000 feet away.
The test stand at maximum zoom.
A large scale model of the Ares I set up in the parking area. I didn’t get close enough to take a good look at it, but I believe it’s 1/9 scale.
3 Responses to “Ares I motor test tomorrow”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Damn. If I hadn’t taken last friday off I’d be there. Ah well. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll postpone one more day then I could hit that place and Smith & Edwards in one trip.
I bet that model is looking fine, now that its standing in your den. :<)
the rocket in the last image is the ONLY Ares-1 that will ever fly… and that is priced “under $35 billion”… 🙂
.
http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts2/051ares1price.html