"Oh, man. Well, how impressive is that," said Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA's space frontier program, known as Constellation. "You've accomplished a great step forward for exploration," he told launch controllers.
It was the first time in nearly 30 years that a new rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center. Columbia made the maiden voyage for the shuttle fleet back in 1981.
Liftoff, in fact, occurred 48 years and one day after the first launch of a Saturn rocket, a precursor to what carried astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program. The Saturn V moon rockets were the tallest ever built, an impressive 363 feet.
Wednesday's launch, three years in the making, represented the first step in NASA's effort to return astronauts to the moon. The White House, though, is re-evaluating the human spaceflight program and may dump the Ares I in favor of another type of rocket and possibly another destination.
Above article From the Associated Press
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Since my brother works at NASA, I get a great deal of "insider" stuff, including some really FANTASTIC pictures you might not see anywhere else.
Ares I-X Rocket in foreground on Pad C, old Space Shuttle stack in background on Pad A.
And of course, the liftoff itself---
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Comments: 26
the manned space program has been sitting in mothballs for too many years
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One of those things is the cerifelt, wet pack firebox in a common furnace. It replaced brick, steel, and asbostes, is cheaper and increases the efficiency of burning fossel fuels to heat our homes thus lowering heating bills.
Thanks for the input and compliment on the pictures-- though I certainly didn't take them, I believe they are "pool" photos from NASA itself.
are you for returning men to the moon ???
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Good on you Tessa ! ! !
by the way, I don't remember ever seeing your name on my threads before, but if you have commented, sorry I didn't notice, and if you haven't--- WELCOME ! ! !
My friend/neighbor has some awesome insider photos of the Vandenberg rocket/missle launches done by our government.
Does your insider brother have any info on what's happening between NASA and government funding? I heard NASA wants to break ties with the gov completely - any truth to that?
Let's face it, from this point forward, it SHOULD be a private sector gig, as the private sector is going to be the biggest beneficiary of all future research and exploration.
Private firms are sprouting up all over the world, particularly here in the USA where the private aerospace industry is solid, strong, diverse, and built upon sound capitalist ideals.
People are going to make a fortune sending bits and pieces of memoribilia to space, only to have them returned to them, as having been OFFICIALLY in "space" with the astronauts.
It would be great to see those Vandenberg photos.
Please consider posting this to Science In An Eclectic Universe. It may be several hours before I get to it to approve it since I have made the group moderated in order to prevent getting flooded with non-science posts that bury the good stuff like your article and pics. Thanks!
I had a Good Friend that has worked for Nasa for over 30 years.
He has recently passed away. I bet your Brother knew him!
Thanks for the input ! ! !
And, Your Welcome.
We saw the rocket go up live. It didn't seem to move slow like I've seen rockets do in the past. Instead it just shot through the sky like a missle. Thanks for the great still shots.
I don't think I've seen you on one of my threads before, so WELCOME ! ! !
thanks for the compliment on the icon and thanks for the input ! !