NASA Drops Ares I-Y Flight-test
Aviation Week
NASA’s Constellation Program has recommended dropping a planned follow-on to last week’s successful Ares I-X flight-test because it doesn’t have the funding necessary to get an upper stage engine ready in time.
Instead, the Ares I-X engineering team will study the costs and benefits of going ahead with a 2012 launch previously dubbed “Ares I-X prime” that would flight-test a full five-segment Ares I solid-fuel first stage and the Orion crew exploration vehicle launch abort system at high altitude, according to Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley.
Hanley said on Nov. 3 he has recommended to NASA headquarters that the Ares I-Y test planned for March 2014 be canceled because the J-2X engine needed to propel the upper stage won’t be ready in time to support that test date. The problem is money, he said.
Read the full story.
Similar Posts:
- NASA Declares Ares I-X a Success; Report of Problems With Staging, Parachute
- NASA: Ares I Astronauts No Longer at Risk of Being Shaken to Death
- NASA Awards $45 Million Contract for Ares Engine Work
- NASA to Unveil Ares Booster on Monday
- Ares I-X Stacking Delayed by Vibration Issues; Launch Likely to Slip into October
The future of human space exploration looks bleak. After making great leaps 50 years ago, stagnation has taken over. No human has left Earth orbit in 37 years, and NASA’s current unambitious goals look to be further delayed or scaled back.
http://www.watchinghistory.com/2009/11/future-of-space-exploration.html