NASA's Ares I-X test flight delayed by weather

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--Launch of NASA's Ares I-X rocket on a planned $445 million test flight was delayed 24 hours Tuesday because of bad weather and an errant freighter that briefly strayed into the off-shore danger area.

"For everyone, great job today. You gave it a great shot," Launch Director Ed Mango told the team. "We had some opportunities and just couldn't get there, weather didn't cooperate. But good work today."

The Ares I-X rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center during launch preparations.

(Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)

Launch was rescheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday. Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather during a four-hour launch window, with lighter winds and less cloud cover. It is not yet clear whether Thursday is an option if additional problems force another delay Wednesday.

NASA began Tuesday's launch campaign at 1 a.m. EDT with the start of a seven-hour countdown. With forecasters concerned about high clouds, showers, and friction-induced static charge buildups, NASA passed up the 8 a.m. opening of the window and the countdown remained in an extended hold at the T-minus four-minute mark in hopes conditions would improve.

In a bit of a surprise given a 60 percent "no-go" forecast, conditions improved and NASA was preparing to come out of the hold and proceed to launch when a freighter strayed into the launch danger zone.

The ship was contacted and immediately began moving out of the area. NASA reset launch for 10:49 a.m., but the delay caused by the freighter held things up long enough for clouds to move in. Two minutes and 37 seconds before liftoff, weather officer Kathy Winters ordered a hold.

The countdown was recycled back to T-minus four minutes and holding in hopes conditions would improve.

Throughout the morning, clouds rolled over the Kennedy Space Center from the west and while occasional breaks were seen on radar, the timing didn't work out for NASA. Around 11:20 a.m., launch managers called off the attempt.

"It looks like we're not going to get there with weather on these opportunities and per our discussions, I guess we're looking for your recommendations and what you would like us to implement from a launch perspective," Test Director Jeff Spaulding said to Mango.

"Your team has done outstanding getting the vehicle ready," Mango said. "Weather (officer) has been outstanding in trying to help us. We're not going to be go today. So we can set up for a scrub."

There are no technical issues with the Ares I-X rocket. But in attempting to launch Tuesday, engineers pulled a sock-like cover from an air data probe at the very tip of the rocket that is designed to measure the atmospheric conditions ahead of the launcher.

Because of the booster's height, and the need to use a shuttle launch pad with a gantry that is much shorter than the rocket, the cover had to be removed by technicians, atop the pad's service gantry, manually pulling a long lanyard. The protective cover hung up at the base of the probe, but the technicians were able to pull it free after a few minutes of energetic tugging.

The cover cannot be re-installed. If rain water gets into the probe between now and launch, it could prevent accurate readings. NASA managers said earlier that was an acceptable condition and that the data, while desirable, was not required for launch.

Editor's note: A 4,000-word mission preview is available on the CBS News Space Place Breaking News page.

[SwissJay]

I watched this live on the NASA channel and got annoyed ;) I honestly felt like choking the weather woman because she would never respond right away when called. Instead, mission control would have to page her 2-3 times before getting a reply... I guess the donuts were THAT GOOD ;)

[askgees]

A 445 million dollar rocket foiled by rain. Anyone else feel NASA should be shut down. I have a 2000.00 POS PU Truck that cannot be stopped. I have an idea. This will save NASA and GM. Let GM take over at least their products aren't hamstrung by a few rain drops. And they could build it for 25% what NASA built it for. In todays economy these type of Gov. funded projects need to be ended.

[recovdrive]

I have been wondering for many years now why don't they move their entire operation to Edwards AFB? Some of the best launch weather in the world!

[blastoffman]

Actually, what's a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars is the $10 billion a MONTH spent in Iraq, with no end in sight. Frankly, what people see on tv and news reports may seem like a lot of money is being spent, but the space program represents less than 1% of the total annual budget. The space program is the ONLY government program with a DIRECT return on investment of roughly 8:1; every dollar spent earns back $8 dollars in technological, industrial, medical, and defense spin-offs, just to name a few.
*Can you name a government program that actually earns a direct return on investment???*
Americans spend MORE money on frozen pizza each year! What's more, we need to actually spend more on our space program, and yes, go to Mars. Why? To keep our technological edge, develop new materials, manufacturing processes, and improve life for the billions of souls on this planet and ultimately provide the natural stepping stone to expansion of our species outside of Earth through terraforming and space travel. Oh, and of course, keeping America # 1.

[Scorptrio]

One thing I have noticed with a lot of these news articles about the Ares I-X is that the link and/or headline reads "Ares IX." It is not the Ares 9, it is the Ares one-X. The X stands for Experimental; the rocket itself is the Ares I. The headline on this article got it right, but the Google News link to this article had it as "Ares IX"

Re: Edwards. NASA launches from Florida because most launches go east. So, stages fall in the Atlantic, not Kansas. Vandenberg is used for polar orbits for the same reason. Launches go east because the Earth's rotation gives them an extra boost. It's a physics thing.
Re: rain. It isn't the rain, it's the clouds blocking the cameras (test flight), static electricity (triboelectrification=bad) from flying through clouds, and for a shuttle, the need to be able to return to the launch site. We used to launch in any weather; then a Saturn got hit by lightning and we learned. And, GM doesn't build trucks that fly 17.500 mph.