Ares 1-X Test Flight

[Tecnos]

Nasa is celebrating the inaugural flight of its giant Ares 1-X rocket despite concerns that the White House may scrap the launcher because it costs too much.

The slender 100m-tall rocket, which is designed to replace the ageing space shuttle, blasted off at 11.30am local time from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Rocket designed to replace ageing space shuttle blasts off from Florida on unmanned two-minute test flight



Nasa is celebrating the inaugural flight of its giant Ares 1-X rocket despite concerns that the White House may scrap the launcher because it costs too much.

The slender 100m-tall rocket, which is designed to replace the ageing space shuttle, blasted off at 11.30am local time from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The $455m unmanned test flight gave Nasa staff the opportunity to monitor the new rocket's performance and hardware systems as it soared to an altitude of about 28 miles in two minutes before falling back into the Atlantic.
The Ares 1-X test rocket lifts off on a six-minute suborbital flight. The Ares I-X test rocket lifts off successfully from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photograph: Scott Audette/Reuters

The demonstration flight marks a critical milestone in Nasa's plans to develop the Ares rocket as a replacement for the space shuttle, which is due to retire as early as next year.

Source....

[Miskreant]

I'd like to know why it seems that we are going backwards, not forwards with Space Exploration.

What happened to the revised shuttle? What happened to alternate propulsion systems?

We are still using 1960's technology? Rockets? Like the Soviets? Come on!

I know for a fact that Nasa has and is sitting on, technology that allows for space flight and air flight using ION anti-gravity propulsion systems.

I wonder what the logic was behind using a rocket from 1960.

My opinion anyways...

[Terminator]

Originally Posted by Miskreant

I'd like to know why it seems that we are going backwards, not forwards with Space Exploration.

What happened to the revised shuttle? What happened to alternate propulsion systems?

We are still using 1960's technology? Rockets? Like the Soviets? Come on!

I know for a fact that Nasa has and is sitting on, technology that allows for space flight and air flight using ION anti-gravity propulsion systems.

I wonder what the logic was behind using a rocket from 1960.

My opinion anyways...

Ion propulsion would only be useful for travelling huge (space-wise) distances. Ions are fired out of the vehicle and it only picks up an ion's worth of thrust as a result. Over time, the increased propulsion would eventually allow the vehicle to achieve phenomenal speed through space....but only over a LONG time.