On July 30th, yet another portion of the Ares I-X
rocket was stacked on the Mobile Launch Platform in
Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building. Now that super stack 1
is up and on, the 327-foot rocket is more than half way
assembled and the team is getting excited as they watch it
take shape in High Bay 3.
Super stack 1 is composed of the fifth segment simulator,
forward skirt, forward skirt extension, frustum and
interstages 1 and 2. It also includes two internal elements
- the roll control system and the first stage avionics
module - as well as the parachute system housed in the
forward skirt extension. The team used a massive overhead
crane, specially adapted for I-X use, to place it on top of
the forward motor segment.
Over the next month, four more super stacks with the
final pieces of hardware (including the simulated crew
module and launch abort system) will be mated, finishing off
the stacking operations for the rocket. So, in about a
month, NASA is going to be able to show off one of the
biggest rockets the world has ever seen!
Ares I-X is scheduled to roll out to a refurbished launch
complex 39B just four days prior to its targeted liftoff of
October 31.
