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Journalists Invited to See NASA's Ares I-X Rocket Test Hardware

January 14, 2009

HAMPTON, Va.(RushPRnews) 01/14/09 -- Reporters are invited to see spaceflight hardware at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., before it is airlifted to Florida for an important launch demonstration test later this year. The hardware consists of a precisely-machined, full-scale simulator crew module and launch abort system, designed and fabricated at Langley to form the tip of NASA's Ares I-X rocket.

The launch of the 321-foot-tall, full-scale Ares I-X rocket will be the first in a series of unpiloted rocket launches from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The goal is to demonstrate technologies NASA is developing to carry the Orion spacecraft and its crew to the International Space Station by the middle of the next decade, and to the moon by 2020.

When fully developed, the 16-foot diameter crew modules 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.


Rocket elements will be on display at Langley for reporters the morning of Jan. 22, beginning with a briefing by project officials at 10 a.m. EST. Reporters interested in attending should contact Keith Henry by 3 p.m., Jan. 21, at 757-864-6120 or 757-344-7211 for center access and escort details.

Grey Hautaluoma, Ashley Edwards
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668/1756
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov
ashley.edwards-1@nasa.gov

H. Keith Henry
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-6120/344-7211
h.k.henry@nasa.gov

For more information about the hardware and images, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/flighttests/aresIx/aresIX_progress.html

For more information about NASA's future exploration missions, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

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