KSC-2009-6005

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance Recovery Operations divers and personnel approach the vertically floating Ares I-X first stage following the launch of the flight test mission as the solid rocket booster recovery ship Freedom Star stands by to tow it back to the center. Liftoff of the 6-minute flight test was at 11:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 28. This was the first launch from Kennedy's pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program's Saturn rockets were retired. The parts used to make the Ares I-X booster flew on 30 different shuttle missions ranging from STS-29 in 1989 to STS-106 in 2000. The data returned from more than 700 sensors throughout the rocket will be used to refine the design of future launch vehicles and bring NASA one step closer to reaching its exploration goals. For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: United Space Alliance