Spaceflight Now Home






Top Stories



Delta 2 rocket launch - A Delta 2 rocket lifts off with an international oceanography satellite.

ESA's lifting body - Europe's re-entry demonstrator should be approved soon for blastoff in late 2013.

Crew arrives at ISS - Next space station crew docks to orbiting complex in Soyuz capsule.

Voyager finds bubbles - The Voyager spacecraft has discovered signs of giant magnetic bubbles at the solar system's outer edge.

Rosetta goes to sleep - ESA's Rosetta comet-chasing spacecraft goes into hibernation.

Shuttle photo op - Spectacular photos of shuttle Endeavour docked to the space station.

Sea Launch update - Two missions are planned this year by Sea Launch from the Pacific Ocean and Kazakhstan.

Fresh crew launched - Reinforcements for the space station crew blast off on a Soyuz rocket.

Picking a destination - NASA will decide this summer where its next Mars rover will land.

Spirit's last images - A collection of the final photos returned from NASA's Spirit rover on Mars.

Atlantis on deck - Beautiful photos of shuttle Atlantis at sunrise on the launch pad.

Endeavour home - Concluding a 16-day mission, Endeavour returns to Earth for the final time.



NewsAlert



Sign up for our NewsAlert service and have the latest news in astronomy and space e-mailed direct to your desktop.

Enter your e-mail address:
Privacy note: your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose.


NASA tops off new Ares launch tower at the Cape
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: January 28, 2010

Bookmark and Share

Workers added the final piece of a 390-foot-tall Ares 1 mobile launch tower at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, topping off a new member of the Cape Canaveral skyline as questions swirl on whether the eye-catching structure will ever be used.


Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
 
A giant crane slowly lifted the tenth and final section of the ironwork structure Thursday morning. The tower is mounted atop a square platform built to haul Ares 1 rockets from the spaceport's massive Vehicle Assembly Building to seaside launch pad 39B.

NASA started stacking the launch tower in October and added sections one at a time at the mobile launcher park site just north of the VAB and near the space shuttle's three processing hangars.

Hensel Phelps of Orlando, Fla., is overseeing the construction of the mobile launcher. The contract is valued at nearly $264 million, if NASA exercises an option for a second platform and tower.

The total cost of the mobile launcher project is estimated at around $500 million, according to NASA.

But the ultimate fate of the skyscraping tower is up in the air as the White House appears on the brink of canceling the Ares 1 rocket and scrapping NASA's Constellation program taking aim on the moon.

The structure was designed specifically for the Ares 1 but could be modified to support other heavy-lift rockets. A price tag for potential changes to the tower is unknown.

A NASA spokesperson said current schedules call for the mobile launcher to be ready to support Ares 1 vehicle processing by January 2014.


Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
 
Before 2014, engineers will add electrical, communications and control systems to the tower. Umbilical lines, fuel plumbing and instrumentation will also be installed on the structure, but those components will be covered in subsequent work contracts.

According to NASA, the mobile launcher consists of the main support structure that comprises the base, tower and facility ground support systems, which inlude power, communications, conditioned air, and water for cooling, wash-down, and ignition over-pressure protection.

NASA plans to begin dismantling pad 39B's shuttle-era fixed service structure this summer.

Final Shuttle Mission Patch

Free shipping to U.S. addresses!

The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE
STS-134 Patch

Free shipping to U.S. addresses!

The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE
Ares 1-X Patch
The official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE
Apollo Collage
This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE
Project Orion
The Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.
 U.S. STORE

Fallen Heroes Patch Collection
The official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

INDEX | PLUS | NEWS ARCHIVE | LAUNCH SCHEDULE
ASTRONOMY NOW | STORE

ADVERTISE

© 2012 Spaceflight Now Inc.