A faulty
part in the steering system for NASA's new Ares I-X rocket has delayed the
booster's trek to its Florida launch pad by at least a day as engineers work to
fix the glitch.
The rocket,
a suborbital version of NASA's new
Ares I booster designed to launch astronauts into orbit and ultimately back
to the moon, was slated to roll out to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space
Center Monday for a planned Oct. 27 test launch. But a malfunctioning
hydraulics component at the base of the towering, 327-foot (100-meter) tall
rocket has stalled that plan, NASA spokesperson George Diller told SPACE.com.
"It's at
least a day [of delay], but it's still kind of a developing story," Diller
said. "We'll have to see how things go for us."
It is not
yet clear if the glitch could threaten the Ares
I-X launch date, which NASA moved up from an Oct. 31 target earlier this
month since work crews were ahead of schedule. Engineers are expected to
replace the faulty component, called a hydraulic accumulator, on the aft skirt
of the Ares I-X rocket's first stage and test its replacement over the next day
or so, Diller said.
"It's
associated with the steering and stabilization of the rocket during flight,"
Diller said of the faulty hardware. A similar glitch occurred on one of the
solid rocket boosters for NASA's STS-117 shuttle mission in 2007 and also
required repairs, he added.
NASA's Ares
I-X rocket is a demonstration version of the full, two-stage Ares I booster,
which NASA plans to use to launch
its Orion spacecraft — a capsule-based vehicle slated to replace the agency's
aging space shuttle fleet. NASA's three space shuttles — Discovery, Atlantis
and Endeavour — are due to retire once the International Space Station is
completed in the next year or so.
The Ares I uses
a giant, five-segment
solid rocket booster for its first stage that is similar to the
four-segment versions used to help launch NASA shuttles. It is built to be
reusable and parachute back to Earth to be recovered in the Atlantic Ocean
after liftoff. The second stage is liquid-fueled and not reusable and is
designed to ferry its Orion capsule to orbit.
For the
Ares I-X launch, NASA will fly a four-segment first stage that includes a dummy
fifth segment. The booster's second stage, Orion capsule and launch abort
system are all mock-ups and will be dumped into the ocean after stage
separation just over two minutes into the flight. Mission managers have said
the flight will demonstrate the Ares I rocket concept and shakedown ground
preparations procedures.
Currently,
NASA only has two days — Oct. 27 and Oct. 28 — and try to launch the Ares I-X
mission before standing down due to the unavailability of the Eastern Range it
shares for launches with the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and United
States military.
Diller said
that it may be possible to delay the Ares I-X rocket's rollout to Pad 39B by
one day and still make the Oct. 27 target. But any more delays could prove
problematic.
"But
it's still too early to tell," Diller said.
SPACE.com
will provide full coverage of NASA's Ares I-X test flight with Managing Editor
Tariq Malik and Staff Writer Clara Moskowitz. Click here for full mission coverage.
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