spacetoday.net: Ares 1 rocket motor a success

Posted: Fri, Sep 11, 2009, 7:05 AM ET (1105 GMT)
Ares 1 DM-1 rocket motor test (NASA)

A five-segment solid rocket motor intended for the first stage of the Ares 1 launch vehicle successfully fired in a ground test on Thursday. The motor, designated DM-1, carried out a static firing lasting a little over two minutes at ATK's test facilities in Utah. The test was originally scheduled for August 27 but scrubbed with only seconds to go because of a problem with a ground controller unit. The rocket motor is an upgraded version of the four-segment motor used on space shuttle missions. The five-segment motor is intended to be used as the first stage of the Ares 1, the launch vehicle being developed to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle to low Earth orbit for missions to the ISS and beyond. The future of the Ares 1 is in question, though, in part because of technical concerns such as thrust oscillation, as well as budget and schedule issues; the recently-released Augustine committee summary report included the Ares 1 in only two of the eight options it presented.