Ares 1-X Launch (2009 Nov 2)

[Chris Peterson]

Seems like something is wrong with the caption for the November 2 APOD. The Ares 1-X is certainly not "the first non-shuttle rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center since the Saturn...". Maybe they meant to say the first non-shuttle rocket intended to carry humans?

[apodman]

Maybe they meant first to use the launch complex, SLC-39 or whatever.

[bystander]

Maybe they meant first to use the launch complex, SLC-39 or whatever.

Maybe they meant to say the first non-shuttle rocket intended to carry humans?

Or maybe the first non-expendable, non-shuttle rocket?

Kennedy Space Center: Launch Archives
Kennedy Space Center: Launch Complex 39

[neufer]

<<A pileus (Latin for cap) is a small, horizontal cloud that can appear above a cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud, giving the parent cloud a characteristic "hoodlike" appearance. Pilei tend to change shape rapidly. They are formed by strong updrafts acting upon moist air at lower altitudes, causing the air to cool to its dewpoint. As such, they are usually indicators of severe weather, and a pileus found atop a cumulus cloud often foreshadows transformation into a cumulonimbus cloud, as it indicates a strong updraft within the cloud. Clouds that are attached to pileus are often given the suffix "pileus" or "with pileus". For example, a cumulonimbus cloud with a pileus attached to it would be called "cumulonimbus with pileus".

Pilei can also form above ash clouds from erupting volcanoes.>>

November 2 APOD

[Star*Hopper]

Or, maybe they used the wrong image? For some reason, that one looks more like the 'Trojan'.
At least, that seems more....ummmm......fitting.

~*

[brooksindy]

Seems like something is wrong with the caption for the November 2 APOD. The Ares 1-X is certainly not "the first non-shuttle rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center since the Saturn...". Maybe they meant to say the first non-shuttle rocket intended to carry humans?

Concur. There have been many rocket launches at KSC, but no rockets designed for human flight other than shuttles.

[emc]

Hey, it’s not rocket science… wait a minute… man… just a minute man… What are you doing Dave?... Don’t think I don’t know what you’re UP to… Stop. Stop Dave. Ok, so it is rocket science.

What I want to know is… where are the extra-galactic propulsion systems? Are we stuck in this somewhat barren solar system... with only one planet out of several that supports advanced life… don’t it make you feel small?

[jerbil]

One aspect of the photograph which interests me is the condensation occurring thanks to the lower pressure and hence adiabatic lowering of temperature near the front of the nose of this machine.

A stunningly interesting (to me) APOD was of a jet aircraft travelling through the sound barrier, displaying a similar effect. Please refer to the APOD of August 19th 2007.

[ovatlantis]

The caption is correct. Launch Pads 39A and B are the only ones at the Kennedy Space Center. Unmanned rocket launches take place from neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

[iamlucky13]

The caption is correct. Launch Pads 39A and B are the only ones at the Kennedy Space Center. Unmanned rocket launches take place from neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Precisely. Atlas V, Delta IV and Delta II, and previously Titan IV all fly from the Air Force Station.

I've got to say, that is one of the neatest vapor cones I've ever seen.

[Chris Peterson]

The caption is correct. Launch Pads 39A and B are the only ones at the Kennedy Space Center. Unmanned rocket launches take place from neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Thanks. I do vaguely recall that distinction. I've been to KSC for unmanned launches, and the difference is not obvious, since you normally enter via KSC and there is no obvious transition to the Air Force Station when you travel to different launch pads.

[neufer]

The caption is correct. Launch Pads 39A and B are the only ones at the Kennedy Space Center. Unmanned rocket launches take place from neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Precisely. Atlas V, Delta IV and Delta II, and previously Titan IV all fly from the Air Force Station.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cape_ ... ad_39B.jpg

[SkyGazerGPS]

My Prius can do 62MPH in under 8 seconds... granted, not vertically

[apodman]

My Prius can do 62MPH in under 8 seconds... granted, not vertically

You might be edged out in the payload specs as well. And I'll bet the Ares would accelerate faster without a full tank.

[tblaxland]

I also have a nitpick with the caption:

Pictured above, the Ares 1-X blasts into space...

Ares I-X did not get to space (nor was it planned to). The apogee was only approx 46 km and the most common definition of the boundary of space is 100 km.

[DonAVP]

I was at the cape last week and saw the launch. I was at Coco Beach about 20 miles south of the launch pad. It took close to 30 seconds for the sound to reach me. It was not loud like distant thunder. The rocket arched over quickly after launch. The sonic cloud in the photo was there less than a second. I think that is when the rocket hit mach one. That was about five or six second after the launch.

From want I understand this is the same solid rocket booster that are on the shuttle. The next stage (which did not fire) is a liquid rocket and above that is a capsule for manned flight only bigger than the Apollo. Very exiting to see a launch.

[Star*Hopper]

My Prius can do 62MPH in under 8 seconds... granted, not vertically

SURE it will!! Vertical isn't a one-way street, y'know.
(Think Grand Canyon....& brake failure.)


~*

[SkyGazerGPS]

Yesterdaze post about my Prius acceleration was tongue-in-cheek and referred to the words used in the description of the Ares 1-X launch:
The tremendous thrust of the Ares 1-X can bring the massive rocket from a standing start to a vertical speed of over 100 kilometers per hour in under eight seconds...
Clearly, 62 MPH was passed long before 8 seconds
-Rich

[neufer]

Yesterdaze post about my Prius acceleration was tongue-in-cheek and referred to the words used in the description of the Ares 1-X launch:
The tremendous thrust of the Ares 1-X can bring the massive rocket from a standing start to a vertical speed of over 100 kilometers per hour in under eight seconds...

Clearly, 62 MPH was passed long before 8 seconds

100 kilometers per hour = 62 MPH

[ovatlantis]

The thrust to weight ratio and thus acceleration of Ares 1-X is almost the same as the shuttle.

[neufer]

The thrust to weight ratio and thus acceleration of Ares 1-X is almost the same as the shuttle.

Using this chart I calculate that the initial accelerations are:

[list]0.63 g's : Shuttle
0.35 g's : Ares 1-X[/list][Personally, I don't think that SkyGazerGPS could handle 0.63 g's. ]

[apodman]

0.63 g's : Shuttle
0.35 g's : Ares 1-X

Don't forget he has to handle 1.63 or 1.35 g's when you add 1 for gravity.

[neufer]

0.63 g's : Shuttle
0.35 g's : Ares 1-X

Don't forget he has to handle 1.63 or 1.35 g's when you add 1 for gravity.

Not in a Prius.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z88U915uq8

[apodman]

Yes, in free fall you may omit the gravity term. But I was thinking of the +y direction again. Keep looking up.

[SkyGazerGPS]

neufer,
Actually, in a 1st order approx, I only experience 0.35 g's since, Prius does 0-60 MPH in 8 secs (with 300 ft-lbs torque).
SkyGazerGPS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

0.63 g's : Shuttle
0.35 g's : Ares 1-X

Don't forget he has to handle 1.63 or 1.35 g's when you add 1 for gravity.

Not in a Prius.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z88U915uq8