Liftoff!

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Press Site countdown clock, so long a familiar a backdrop for space shuttle launches, counts off the seconds since liftoff from Launch Complex 39B of a new vehicle, the Constellation Program's Ares I-X test rocket.

The rocket produces 2.96 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and reaches a speed of 100 mph in eight seconds.

Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
October 28, 2009