Friday, September 18, 2009

Time-Lapse Rocket Fun

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Okay, no soap-box today, no opinions or commentary... just a great, rousing "Watch This!" The first video was on Nov. 3, 2008 and the final video was on Aug. 30, 2009:


From NASA Television:
In the Vehicle Assembly Building at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, a time lapse camera documented the buildup of the Ares I-X flight test rocket.

It began with the arrival and integration of the upper stage elements, in high bay 4. This was followed in high bay 3 by the stacking of the four solid rocket booster segments on the mobile launcher platform.

Primary elements of the second stage were each then hoisted above bay 4, moved across the transfer aisle into bay 3 and lowered atop the first stage.

It concluded as the service module simulator, crew module simulator and launch abort system simulator now integrated together were hoisted into place atop what then became the fully assembled flight test vehicle.

The Ares I-X is targeted to liftoff on October 31st from Launch Pad 39B!