Reported by Greg Pallone
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER -- It will last just 2 minutes and 30 seconds, but the information gleaned from the test flight Tuesday of the Ares 1-X will provide data for years to come.
But weather could stand in the way of Tuesday afternoon's scheduled test launch for the rocket which is planned to be a replacement for the space shuttle.
The rocket stands 327 foot tall and it has 700 sensors that will gather aerodynamic data in an effort to determine whether computer models and wind tunnels accurately predict the actual flight environment. When it launches, it will only go 150,000 feet into the air.
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There is a 60 percent chance bad weather could delay the launch from Launch Pad 39B, which is scheduled for Tuesday morning from 8 a.m. to noon. If Tuesday's attempt is scuttled, they can try again on Wednesday during the same time period. There is a 60 percent chance the weather will be good enough Wednesday morning for liftoff.
"As y'all probably know, the range is real busy over the next month. There's a lot of vehicles in line to launch in November, and there are a lot of operations to support those launches lined up, as well. So, there is going to be a lot of activity, so we're going to have to work with them very closely if we're going to get any additional attempts if we need to do that," said Jeff Spaulding, the launch test director.
NASA officials say that if they get past T-4 minutes and counting, they can recycle back to four minutes and make additional attempts in that four hour window, if the problem that caused the delay was cleared up.
If the rocket does not launch on Tuesday or Wednesday morning, it could be sometime in November before it can try again.
The Ares I-X test flight is expected to be two minutes of smoke and thunder, followed by a giant splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean -- and if all goes well, the impact will be huge.
The test flight is a pivotal moment for the space agency, which is embarking on the Constellation program to explore the moon and Mars.
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