Moon and Mars at Kennedy

    Mission: Ares I-X Flight Test
    Launch Date: Oct. 28, 2009
    Launch Time: 11:30 a.m. EDT
    Launch Pad: 39B
    Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

    Tower is complete Image above: A crane gently lowers a tenth and final tower segment toward the nine segments previously secured to a new mobile launcher. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
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    February 2010
    The tenth and final tower segment was secured on top of the mobile launcher, or ML. The tower is approximately 345 feet tall and has multiple platforms for personnel access.

    Its base is lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and a taller rocket.

    The construction is taking place at the mobile launcher park site area north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building.

    Additional Resources
    › Ares I-X Flight Test Image Gallery
    › Ares I-X Flight Test Site
    › Ares I-X Flight Test Updates
    › Launch Vehicle Height Comparisons (1 Mb pdf)

Features

Building an Original

Rollout of the Ares I-X rocket
10.22.09

A small, dedicated team showcases NASA's entrepreneurial spirit with the assembly and rollout of the Ares I-X rocket.

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History in Slow Motion

Treads of the crawler-transporter.
10.22.09

Apollo-era crawler transports third-generation space vehicle to the launch pad.

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Firing Room 1: Adding One More "First"

Bob Crippen speaking inside Firing Room 1.
09.25.09

As the Ares I-X launch team assembles, a new era will begin.

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