Ares rocket development updates posted to iTunes

NASA has made its series of video updates on the progress of the Ares rocket program available on Apple's iTunes service.

(Credit: NASA)

NASA said Wednesday that it has made available a series of video updates on the Ares rocket program available to the public via iTunes.

There are 10 videos--which have been produced quarterly since August 2006--in the series. NASA's move Wednesday means that all 10 will be viewable on Apple's service immediately, with forthcoming progress reports to be added as they are finished.

The Ares rocket is the space agency's next-generation launch vehicle, intended to carry the Orion crew capsule--and its astronauts--to the moon, as well as to the International Space Station.

The first space station launch is scheduled for 2015.

According to NASA, the video reports have been intended as a way for the agency to disseminate updates on the development of the Ares project. NASA also sees the series as a way to save, for posterity, the record of "the historical work being completed on America's newest fleet of spacecraft for future generations."

Each video is between 10 and 15 minutes long, and over the course of the series have touched on everything from the Ares program's conception to the most recent testing.