HAMPTON, Va., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it's moving closer to the first flight test of the rocket that will send humans to the moon again.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said testing of the hardware for the rocket known as Ares I-X -- part of NASA's Constellation Program -- was completed this week at the space agency's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
Officials said the flight of Ares I-X will be an important step toward verifying tools and techniques needed to develop Ares I, NASA's next crew launch vehicle.
The test launch is to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center this summer, climb about 25 miles in altitude during a two-minute powered flight. NASA said the launch will culminate with a test of the separation of the first stage from the rocket and deployment of the accompanying parachute system that will return the first stage to Earth for data and hardware recovery.
"This launch will tell us what we got right and what we got wrong in the design and analysis phase," said Jonathan Cruz, deputy project manager for the Ares I-X crew module and launch abort system. "We have a lot of confidence, but we need those two minutes of flight data before NASA can continue to the next phase of rocket development."
