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MUSIC

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NARRATOR: The

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Constellation launch

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vehicle that will carry

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the crew into space is

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called Ares I.

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Ares I consists of a

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Shuttle-derived solid

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rocket booster for a lower

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stage and a liquid fuel

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rocket for an upper stage.

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Sitting on top of Ares I

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is the Orion Crew

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Exploration Vehicle.

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Orion is similar in shape

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to the Apollo spacecraft

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but is larger and features

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state of the art

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equipment.

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Orion can dock with the

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space station...rendezvous

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with other components for

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a lunar mission...and even

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be modified to play a part

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in a mission to Mars

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All of these potential

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journeys depend upon the

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Ares I launch vehicle

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getting Orion into orbit.

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Like past NASA spacecraft,

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engineers are applying the

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"test as you go" method to

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Ares I.

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Computer analysis and

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early development tests

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begin the process.

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On the hardware side,

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parts of the rocket have

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been tried out

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individually.

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In the test as you go

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world, it is time to fly,

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and the first flight test

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for Ares I is a vehicle

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called Ares 1-X.

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It is an unmanned test and

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will focus on the first

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stage of flight.

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Bob Ess-: "Ares I-X is the

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same length as Ares I, the

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same diameter, it has a

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similar rocket on the

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bottom end, and its goal

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is to simulate the flight

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and test out the flight

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control to make sure the

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engineers have enough data

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in order to finish

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designing and building the

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Ares I ."

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Components for the Ares

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1-X have come from around

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the country.

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The rocket is being

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assembled at the Kennedy

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Space Center in

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Florida...the first new

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space vehicle in almost

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three decades.

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Ares 1-X features a four

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segment solid rocket

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booster which will lift

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the vehicle during its two

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minutes of powered flight.

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The real Ares I rocket

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will actually have a fifth

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segment to help push it

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into space.

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For this early test

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however, the fifth segment

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is an inactive mockup, as

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is the rest of the upper

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stage, crew module and

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launch abort system.

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The Ares 1-X test will

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climb 25 miles in

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altitude.

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The first and second stage

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will separate.

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The test continues as the

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parachute system is

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deployed for the solid

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rocket booster, which will

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gently descend to the sea.

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From flight dynamics, to

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control, to stage

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recovery, the data

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gathered as a result of

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this flight will give

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engineers the early look

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they need to see how the

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design is progressing...

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Jon Cowart: "We have

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somewhere in the

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neighborhood of 700

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special sensors on this

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rocket that we'll use to

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collect data on the rocket

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as it launches, and

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ascends, and separates and

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comes back down. The

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sensors are looking at

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pressures and

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temperatures, stresses and

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strains and

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vibrations...and all kinds

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of things.

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These are the clues that

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we have to what's

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happening at various

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locations along the

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rocket.

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This mission is all about,

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besides being cheap and

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quick, we're all about

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gathering data for the

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Ares 1 folks for their

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critical design review so

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they can use it.

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Once we have that data,

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the Ares folks have other

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tests that they plan to

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take them higher into the

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atmosphere and collect

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more data down that way."

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Bob Ess- "When we actually

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fly, we expect to have

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things that don't go

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perfectly...in fact we

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hope they do.

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You learn a lot when

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everything goes right; you

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learn a tremendous amount

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when something doesn't go

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quite as right, because

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then you have something to

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go fix, to go look at, go