NASA's Constellation Program is a step closer to the first test flight of
the vehicle that will send humans on their way to the moon.
Hardware that will be used for the test flight of Ares I-X was delivered by a C-5 aircraft to
Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility in January, 2009.
The equipment, consisting of a meticulously engineered simulated crew module and
launch abort system, was carefully unloaded from the belly of the enormous aircraft.
The launch abort system simulator is 46 feet in length and will fit over
the crew module and tower above it, forming the nose of the vehicle.
Two flatbed trucks transported the hardware to High Bay 4 of
Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building.
Inside the massive building, workers removed the protective blue cover from the simulated crew module.
This hardware and other elements will be integrated into the full-scale Ares I-X test launch vehicle.
Kennedy's Launch Pad 39B will be the site of the first Ares I-X test
flight targeted to launch in 2009 -- an important step toward developing Ares I,
NASA's next-generation crew launch vehicle.