October 28, 2009
Posted by:
Nick Gattozzi
OK, so we are back at Kennedy Space Center for a second try at launching the Ares I-X. The morning fog is clearing and there is light cloud cover. Most importantly there are plenty of openings to launch through and there's little ground wind, which was a factor in yesterday's delay.
Getting this launched today really has a level of urgency for a couple of reasons. For starters, the weather, which is supposed to turn later this morning and remain bad the rest of the week. Any further delay, can impact the launched schedules of other rockets in various states of prep, including the shuttle Atlantis which is already staged on launch pad 39A and several other rockets we saw on our tour two days ago. The second concern is that if we miss today, we'll have to go to the back of the line, or have to get permission to move around other flights around, which is a very complicated process.
Here's hoping we launch today.
Pictured: Modified Launch Pad 39B and the Ares I-X as seen from the Banana Creek viewing area. Picture taken via Blackberry Curve @ 5x view.
Category:
Advocacy
Tags:
ares I-X,
cleveland,
glenn research center,
nasa,
rocket,
space