Kennedy Space Center personnel today gave reporters a look at the changes made to launch pad 39B to accommodate the Ares I-X test flight, planned for Oct. 27. The 327-foot rocket is scheduled to roll out to the pad just after 12 a.m. Monday.
For months, the most noticeable difference from pad 39A to the south - the lone remaining shuttle pad - has been the erection of three lightning towers soaring 600 feet high. Changes to the pad itself are more subtle to the untrained eye. The Fixed Service Structure now features a V-shaped (left) pair of arms that will help stabilize the skinny test rocket.
Two prominent features needed to support shuttles were removed: the "White Room" access arm where astronauts board the orbiter, and the "beanie cap" vent fixture that rests above the orange external tank.
A lightning mast like the one that can be seen at the top of pad 39A was also removed, no longer needed with the three new lightning towers in place. Air conditioning ducts were added to keep parts of the rocket's first and second stages cool, and a platform was added to the pad's rotating service tower to access first stage avionics.
The pad modifications accounted for about $13 million of the $350-million Ares I-X test flight.
That doesn't include the lightning towers, which were designed for use throughout the Constellation program.
After the Ares I-X flight, pad 39B will will be demolished for a complete overhaul.
IMAGE NOTE: Photos by Craig Rubadoux, Florida Today.
5 comments:
Any chance NASA (or the RSO) will allow a boat w/ video camera to sit downrange and watch the Aeres 1-X Splashdown?
Rick Steele
Sarasota, Florida
The move of Ares I-X to the pad will be the first time in more than 30 years that any vehicle other than the shuttle has left the VAB! Kudos to the Constellation team for making this happen. Obviously there is still a long way to go before humans leave low earth orbit, but this test is marks a major milestone along the way.
The idea of a re-usable firat stage makes me see dollar signs floating up and around from the launch pad and right back into NASA's funding, and I think WOW. But when I read that they spent $13 million making a few small changes to the launch pad just for one test launch, I get discombobulated!
What do you expect they have to change the pad and it costs,it's all part of it.They can't do these things on the cheap and cut corners,safety is number one here.!
When it comes to actually flying the finished Ares 1, the space shuttle tower will be replaced with a dedicated launch tower for Ares. And When they fly Ares V that rocket and tower will be the largest rocket anyone has ever flown 381 ft tall !. Absolutely massive. For a moon mission the two craft work in tandem,one for crew launch and one for lander and cargo.
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