KSC-2009-1416

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Vehicle Assembly Building's high bay 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers remove the protective blue cover from the simulator crew module for the Ares I-X rocket. The precisely machined, full-scale simulator crew module is part of the hardware that will be used in the launch of the rocket. Also arriving is a launch abort system that, with the module, will form the tip of the rocket. Ares I-X is the test flight for the Ares I. The I-X flight will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with Ares I. The launch of the 321-foot-tall, full-scale Ares I-X, targeted for July 2009, will be the first in a series of unpiloted rocket launches from Kennedy. When fully developed, the 16-foot diameter crew module will furnish living space and reentry protection for the astronauts, while their launch abort system will provide safe evacuation if a launch vehicle failure occurs. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller