The weather cooperated today, allowing NASA to launch the Ares 1-X test vehicle at 11:30 this morning. The two minute powered flight reached an estimated altitude of about 28 miles. The first stage splashed down in the ocean about four minutes later and will be recovered. The mock upper stage was not intended to be recovered.

The fate of the Ares 1 program is still under consideration in Washington as policymakers deliberate on the results of the Augustine committee.

Update: 9:10 am

Latest launch time is 10:30 based on weather. The clock is stopped at T-4 minutes, so if the weather unexpectedly improves before that, it could launch earlier, but the expectation is that 10:30 is the next best chance.

Original Story

Today’s launch window for Ares 1-X extends until noon, but weather continues to be a problem. The most recently announced launch time is 9:15 am. Live coverage is available on NASA TV and SpaceflightNow.com, and both are posting messages on Twitter.

Bad weather and other glitches forced NASA to scrub the Ares 1-X launch today. It will try again tomorrow. The launch window is the same as today: 8:00 am to noon.

The other glitches were a recalcitrant instrument cover that the ground crew struggled to detach from a 5-hole probe atop the launch vehicle minutes before launch. Pulling and pulling on the tether attached to the cover finally dislodged it, but not before missing the targeted launch time. Weather cooperated briefly, but not a cargo ship that entered prohibited waters off the launch site. Though Eastern Test Range officials estimated it would take 90 minutes to clear the range, it actually took less than 10 minutes, but by then the weather violated the “triboelectrification rule” and deteriorated further.

Results from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and preliminary results from one-month of operations of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter were briefed to a panel of the National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey on Monday. View those Powerpoint presentations and others to the Inner Planets panel, as well as presentations to the Giant Planets panel, that were made on October 26. They are available on our National Research Council page on our left menu.

The following presentations were made at the meeting of the Inner Planets panel of the National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey on October 26, 2009 at the Beckman Center in Irvine, CA. Adobe Reader 8.0 or higher is needed to read most of these files. Some of them are quite large and take a few moments to open; please be patient. The titles are taken from the agenda for the meeting.

• Results from the Chandrayaan-2 Mission, Carle Pieters, Brown University
• Results from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mark Robinson, Arizona State University
• Technologies for a Venus Flagship Mission, Jeffrey L. Hall, JPL
• Artemis Mission Update, Krishan Khurana, UCLA
• Introduction to In Situ Dating Presentations, Timothy Swindle, Univ. of Arizona
• In Situ Dating 1, Timothy Swindle, Univ. of Arizona
• in Situ Dating 2, F. Scott Anderson, Southwest Research Institute

(The presentation by Clive Neal on LEAG Goals and Priorities was too large to upload)

The following presentations were made at the meeting of the Giant Planets panel of the National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey on October 26, 2009 at the Beckman Center in Irvine CA. Adobe Reader 8.0 or higher is needed to read most of these files. Some of them are quite large and take a few moments to open; please be patient. The titles are taken from the agenda for the meeting.

• Probes, Sushil Atreya, Univ. of Michigan
• Probes Technology, Tony Colaprete, NASA Ames Research Center
• Planetary Telescope, Mike Wong, UC-Berkeley
• Technologies for Space Telescopes, Dave Content
• RPS, Beverly Cook, JPL
• DSN, Beverly Cook, JPL
• Technology Priorities, Patricia Beauchamp, JPL
• Brief Update on EJSM Science Objectives, Leigh Fletcher, JPL
• Planetary Magnetospheres, Krishan Khurana, UCLA
• JPL’s Neptune RMA Study, Tom Spilker, JPL

UPDATE: As of Monday evening, the forecast remains the same, with a 40% chance of favorable weather during the launch window that opens at 8:00 am tomorrow morning (Tuesday).

The Ares 1-X two-minute suborbital test flight is on track for launch tomorrow morning (Tuesday, October 27), though weather may be a problem. As of yesterday, forecasters were saying there is only a 40% chance for launch due to clouds and precipitation. The four-hour launch window extends from 8:00 am – noon. If it slips to Wednesday, the window is the same.

The following events next week may be of interest. For more information, look on our calendar on the right menu or follow the links below. Note that congressional activities are always subject to change.

During the week

• The Senate is expected to resume and complete deliberation on the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill (H.R. 2847). If a cloture vote succeeds this time, the Vitter-Bennett amendment about the census that has slowed consideration of the measure would be ruled not germane under a parliamentary ruling won by the Democrats, according to Congress Daily (subscription required).
• Another Continuing Resolution (CR) will be needed by the end of the week, and may be attached to the Interior-Environment appropriations bill. The current CR expires on October 31.
• Negotiators are expected to continue to meet on a compromise version of the Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations bill (H.R. 3326), but it is not clear if it will go to the floor this week. Congress Daily reports that Democrats are considering adding an increase in the debt limit and a D.C. voting rights bill to the appropriations bill; Republicans are objecting to these non-defense riders.

Sunday-Wednesday, October 25-28

• First International Symposium on Nanotechnology, Energy and Space, Houston, TX

Monday-Wednesday, October 26-28

• NRC Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space: Animal and Human Biology Panel, Washington, D.C. Open sessions are only on October 26.
• NRC Planetary Science Decadal Survey: Giant Planets Panel, Irvine, CA. Open sessions are only on October 26.
• NRC Planetary Science Decadal Survey: Inner Planets Panel, Irvine, CA. Open sessions are only on October 26.

Tuesday, October 27

• Women in Aerospace Annual Awards Banquet, National Press Club, Washington, D.C. 6:30 pm

Wednesday-Friday, October 28-30

• NRC Planetary Science Decadal Survey: Primitive Bodies Panel, Irvine, CA. Open sessions are on October 28 and October 29.

Thursday, October 29

• NASA Advisory Council, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. 1:00 pm, Ames Conference Center

Today, NASA cleared Ares 1-X for its two-minute suborbital test launch on Tuesday, October 27. The launch is scheduled for 8:00 am EDT.

A SpacePolicyOnline.com summary of the Oct. 21, 2009 Senate hearing on “The Case for Space: Examining the Value of Space Exploration” is now available. The hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Science and Space of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Look for it on our left menu under “Our Hearing Summaries” or just click here.