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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Alliant Techsystems Inc. workers at Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., attach an overhead crane to the Ares I-X forward skirt just arrived from Major Tool & Machine Inc. in Indiana. The forward skirt will be lifted and moved to a stand. Major Tool is subcontractor to Ares I prime contractor Alliant Techsystems Inc., or ATK, in Utah. The forward skirt is the initial piece of first-stage hardware in preparation for the July 2009 test flight of the agency's next-generation spacecraft and launch vehicle system. Built entirely of armored steel, the 14,000-pound segment is seven feet tall and 12-1/4 feet wide. United Space Alliance, under a subcontract to ATK, will integrate and assemble the forward skirt components in the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.. It will then be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 3 for stacking operations. Photo credit: NASA/Tim Jacobs