Ares 1-X

On October 28 2009 NASA Launched a new space boat called Ares 1. This is supposed to be the next generation of launch vehicles for NASA but there really does not seem to be a whole hearted commitment to this program. But hey they scraped together a few hundred million and shot this baby off. I was a little unclear on why they had to "test" fly a proven technology that we have been flying for 20 years. Using a dummy unpowered second stage. Only to find out the parachutes are maybe not so great. Of course I can barely back my minivan out of the drive without hitting the mailbox so I should probably shut up and enjoy it for the spectacle that it was. Here are some pics of the launch. Actually the whole flight. The booster and dummy second stage just sort of fell back to earth around 60 miles or so down range. These shots were taken with a Canon 40D and a Canon 600mm f4 lens* Click on image for a way too large version.
				NASA Ares 1-X page
				Into the few clouds there were. It was a fabulous day for a space boat parade.
				Cool condensation around the protuberances. Note the hints of a Prandlt-Glauert Singularity. For more some nicely processed images of the cool condensation check This out
				Cooking...
				Burnout

These three frames show the dummy Second Stage separating and tumbling. This is about 35 miles away at this point.

				Nicely edited video. .
SpaceFlightNow.com Pics and Info				Chase Plane Video Quite the unusual perspective on a Launch. Usually the rocket gets further away. In this video the rocket approaches the observer.