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NASA delays test flight of new rocket

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-28 05:48

WASHINGTON: NASA on Tuesday postponed the test flight of Ares I-X rocket, an unmanned prototype moon rocket, due to poor weather.

The 327-foot (100-meter) Ares I-X's Tuesday flight attempt was plagued by weather issues, even though the vehicle itself was ready to fly.

After multiple attempts to reset to new launch times during the 4-hour window, the final scrub came when the weather did not improve as the end of the window neared.

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The attempt to launch Ares I-X rocket was reset for 8 am EDT (1200 GMT) on Wednesday. It will have the same 4-hour window that ends at noon.

The flight, NASA said, will allow the agency to "test and prove hardware, models, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I launch vehicle."

The Ares I-X is the prototype for the Ares I, a booster vehicle intended to launch mission crews into orbit in the Orion spacecraft, which is still under development.

NASA hopes to develop two Ares rockets to return US astronauts to the moon sometime in the 2020s. The program, however, is under review.