CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s newest rocket successfully completed a brief test flight Wednesday, the first step in a back-to-the-moon program that could yet be shelved by the White House.
Nearly twice the height of the spaceship it’s supposed to replace — the shuttle — the 327-foot Ares I-X rocket carried no passengers or payload, only throwaway ballast and hundreds of sensors. The flight cost $445 million.
NASA said the flight was a tremendous success, based on early indications. “Oh, man. Well, how impressive is that,” said Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA’s space frontier program, known as Constellation.
“You’ve accomplished a great step forward for exploration,” he told launch control.
It was the first time in nearly 30 years that a new rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center. Columbia made the maiden voyage for the shuttle fleet back in 1981.
Wednesday’s launch, three years in the making, represented the first step in NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the moon. The White House, though, is re-evaluating the human spaceflight program and may dump the Ares I in favor of another type of rocket and possibly another destination.
