KSC-2009-5088

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center, NASA's Ares I-X mission engineers (from front) George Odom, Jeremy Graeber, Roberta Wyrick and Rudy Tench monitor data in the firing room as the rocket undergoes its first power-up. Part of the Constellation Program, the Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is the essential core of a space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston