spacetoday.net: NASA pleased with Ares 1-X launch

NASA pleased with Ares 1-X launch

Posted: Fri, Dec 4, 2009, 7:17 AM ET (1217 GMT)
Ares 1-X launch (NASA/KSC)

NASA officials said Thursday that an initial analysis of data from the October launch of the Ares 1-X identified no major engineering issues with the planned crew launch vehicle. The Ares 1-X, a suborbital prototype of the Ares 1 launcher, carried over 700 sensors to measure the rocket's environment during the brief flight. Officials said that some areas of past concern, such as thrust oscillation in the solid-propellant first stage, do not appear to be as serious as once feared. Engineers do not yet, though, know why the parachutes on the first stage partially failed, causing it to hit the ocean faster than intended and damaging it.