Engineering

NASA ‘Mars Rocket’ Launch On Hold

(INFORMATION WEEK) - NASA early Wednesday delayed the test launch of a new rocket that’s designed to replace the aging space shuttle and could one day be used for missions to Mars.The space agency said inclement conditions in the vicinity of Florida’s Kennedy Space Center were behind the decision to keep the Ares I-X on the launch pad for at least 90 minutes past the scheduled 8:00 a.m. EDT launch.

“Things are pretty dynamic weather-wise,” deputy mission manager Jon Cowart said on NASA TV, after the original launch time came and went with Ares I-X still on the launch pad. “We’re red, only due to weather,” said Coward.Coward said NASA weather spotters indicated that the weather should clear by 10:30 a.m., providing another opportunity to get the rocket airborne before Wednesday’s launch window closes at Noon.

The Ares rocket is slated to replace the space shuttle as NASA’s primary space vehicle over the next several years. It’s also intended to gird missions that will see NASA return to the moon and explore further out into space—possibly as far as mars.

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