Sept 15, 2009

Amber Philman Kennedy Space Center, Fla 321-867-2468 amber n philman@nasa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: 43-09

NASA BRINGS THE ARES I-X FLIGHT TEST ROCKET TO LIFE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- The Ares I-X team at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida has reached a significant milestone with the first electrical power-up of the test rocket on Sept 11 Ares I-X and its simulated crew module and launch abort system are assembled on a mobile launcher platform at Kennedy in preparation for its targeted Oct 31 flight test

Power-up is the first application of power to all of the electronics boxes, including avionics, sensors and thrust vector control system, since the rocket segments arrived and were stacked at Kennedy Testing ran for three days and concluded Sept 14 The boxes were all powered up individually in Denver, but had not been tested since installation in the rocket with actual flight cabling

"Powering up a new vehicle and having all of the systems 'talking' to each other is always a challenge The power-up was a tremendous success, with all of the systems functioning nominally," said Bob Ess, Ares I-X mission manager

The Ares I-X is wired with more than 700 sensors to gather data during the two-and-a-half minute flight test The launch will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations The data collected during the launch will allow NASA to gather critical data for Ares I and future launch vehicles

To follow Ares I-X processing on Twitter, visit:

http://www twitter com/NASA_Ares_I_X

For more information about Ares I-X and NASA's next-generation spacecraft, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ares

-end-

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