Mission Status Center

NASA is two days away from launching a one-of-a-kind suborbital test flight to validate the aerodynamic design of the agency's embattled Ares 1 rocket, a crew-carrying booster under development to replace the space shuttle.

Read our full story.

Check out maps of the launch hazard area and ground track for Tuesday's launch of the Ares 1-X test flight.

Launch preparations for Ares 1-X are proceeding well, officials just told reporters in a countdown status briefing.

"I'm really happy to report that we aren't tracking any problems. The vehicle's in great shape so we're looking very good for a Tuesday launch," said Jeff Spaulding, launch test director.

Workers at the pad are connecting ordnance devices on the rocket today. These pyrotechnics fire hold-down bolts and explosives to separate the stages.

The first stage booster's safe-and-arm device will be rotated to the "arm" position late tonight. Engineers also plan to power up the rocket again tonight after closeouts are completed.

"Once that's done, we don't have any other power-ups of the vehicle planned until we actually get into launch countdown," Spaulding said.

Ground system closeouts are planned tomorrow, and officials will fill the water tank at pad 39B to ready it for its sound suppression duties late in the countdown.

The latest weather forecast continues to show a 60 percent chance of violating launch weather rules due to precipitation and the potential static electricity in the atmosphere. Launch opportunities Wednesday and Thursday indicate a 40 percent chance of bad weather prohibiting launch.

"Our weather on Tuesday is going to be a little bit of a problem," said Kathy Winters, launch weather officer.

The outlook calls for rain showers and scattered clouds and 3,000 feet and 8,000 feet. A broken deck of cirrus clouds is predicted at 25,000 feet.

Ground winds will be out of the south-southeast at 12 knots, with 18-knot gusts, the temperature is forecast to be between 75 degrees and 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and the visibility is expected to be about 7 miles, according to meteorologists.

"I feel more optimistic about Wednesday than Tuesday," Winters said.

Here is a look at the overview provided by the Air Force this morning:

"A cold front moved through Kennedy Space Center (KSC) this morning bringing northwest winds and cooler temperatures. Showers and thunderstorms developed offshore east of KSC as the front moved over the warm water. A tropical wave located southeast of Florida is moving northwest and will merge with this front today. Offshore showers will continue, and some may migrate over KSC this afternoon and evening as the front stalls offshore. By launch day, a tropical wave currently south of Cuba will merge with a warm boundary associated with a low pressure system developing in the Western Gulf of Mexico. This warm front will migrate through the KSC area Monday evening and Tuesday, causing an increase in clouds and a chance of showers."

"High clouds within the area where the triboelectrification rule will be evaluated will also be prevalent. Also, the atmosphere will be moist enough to develop showers near the end of the launch window as the sea breeze develops. Our primary concerns for launch are flight through precipitation and triboelectrification. The front may continue to linger in the area for the days following launch; therefore, clouds and precipitation could still be a concern for scrub turn-around launch attempts."

Take a look at the launch weather rules provided by NASA for Tuesday's launch of the Ares 1-X test flight.

As the launch team undergoes a final countdown simulation, meteorologists have released the latest weather forecast for the conditions expected during the launch window.

Air Force forecasters are still calling for a 60 percent chance of violating weather rules Tuesday morning. Those odds are slightly better Wednesday and Thursday, with only a 40 percent chance of bad weather.

The main concerns Tuesday are flight through precipitation, ground winds and electricity in the atmosphere.

The forecast is mostly unchanged, predicting isolated rain showers and scattered clouds at 3,000 feet and 8,000 feet. A broken deck of cirrus clouds is expected at 25,000 feet.

The temperature will be between 75 degrees and 78 degrees Fahrenheit and southerly winds are forecast at 10 knots with gusts up to 15 knots. Visibility should be about 7 miles, according to meteorologists.

Here is the synopsis issued by the Air Force:

"A cold front is located in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and a tropical wave is over Eastern Cuba and the Bahamas. The tropical wave will migrate west toward Florida and bring additional moisture into the area by Sunday. Additionally, a cold front will move into the area Sunday and linger, increasing the chance of showers in the vicinity of Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

"By launch day, the front will move into the KSC area causing a clouds and a chance of showers. The low pressure area that meteorological models were indicating yesterday is not evident today; therefore, ground wind speeds were decreased from yesterday’s forecast. Our primary concerns for launch are flight through precipitation and triboelectrification. The front may continue to linger in the area for the days following launch; therefore, clouds and precipitation could still be a concern for scrub turn-around launch attempts."

The rotating service structure at launch pad 39B has been extended back around the lower half of the Ares 1-X rocket at the conclusion of a two-day integrated systems test.

Workers aligned powerful xenon spotlights on the rocket this evening. A countdown simulation involving the entire launch team is on tap tomorrow.

Senior NASA officials convened at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday and formally approved plans to launch a $445 million test flight of the next-generation Ares 1 rocket next week.

Read our full story.

The news conference following today's readiness review meeting has been moved up an hour to 4 p.m. EDT. You can watch a streaming video feed on the right-hand side of this page. Officials are reported "go" for October 27 launch.

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Air Force meteorologists have issued the first official weather forecast for Tuesday morning's launch.

The outlook calls for a 60 percent chance of violating weather constraints Tuesday due to concerns about flying through precipitation, ground winds and electrification in the atmosphere.

The forecast predicts isolated rain showers and scattered clouds at 3,000 feet and 8,000 feet, plus a deck of broken clouds at 25,000 feet.

Southerly winds are expected at 13 knots with gusts up to 18 knots, according to forecasters. The temperature will be between 75 degrees and 78 degrees Fahrenheit and the visibility will be 7 miles.

The forecast slightly improves for Wednesday and Thursday. There is about a 40 percent chance of weather prohibiting launch on those days, primarily because of rain and electrical charges.

Today's Flight Test Readiness Review is underway at the Kennedy Space Center to mull over the status of launch preparations and any technical issues that stand in the way of launch Tuesday.

Officials plan a press conference around 5 p.m. EDT at the conclusion of the review.

Last night, engineers powered up the rocket's auxiliary power unit, a device that drives the first stage steering system. The rocket was also put through a computer simulation of plus-count events to exercise the systems as they will perform after launch.

Today's work focuses on checks of the ground systems at the pad. The gantry-like rotating service structure will be wheeled back in place around the lower portion of Ares 1-X late tonight after workers align powerful xenon spotlights.

Take a look at our countdown timeline and launch timeline for the Ares 1-X mission.

NASA has released the press kit for the Ares 1-X test launch.

The rotating gantry at launch pad 39B is now being retracted to the launch position to facilitate testing of the Ares 1-X auxiliary power unit this evening.

An exercise of the rocket's systems during simulated flight events is also on tap tonight.

The gantry will remain retracted until tomorrow night to allow ground systems testing during the day tomorrow.

Rotation of the rotating service structure is now expected around 3:15 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. EDT, according to NASA.

The gantry-like rotating service structure is scheduled to be retracted from around Ares 1-X between 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. EDT to prepare for a hotfire test of the rocket's hydraulic steering system.

Follow the milestone in our live webcast on the right side of this page.

Fueled yesterday the hydrazine, the auxiliary power unit will be activated around 7:30 p.m. EDT tonight to test its functionality, according to a NASA spokesperson.

A simulation of post-liftoff events tonight will put the rocket through a test of how its systems will operate during the two minutes of powered flight.

Today's portion of the integrated systems test will wrap up around 10 p.m. EDT, if all goes well. Tomorrow, the test will pick up to exercise the ground systems required for the launch.

The Flight Test Readiness Review will convene at 8 a.m. EDT tomorrow to give formal approval for the launch to proceed next Tuesday.

Now poised on launch pad 39B, Ares 1-X is slated to undergo an integrated systems test tomorrow to put the rocket through an exercise simulating all of its countdown and flight activities.

Today's scheduled milestones included a "first motion test" and servicing of the power unit that drives the rocket's first stage steering system. The hydraulic system consumes toxic hydrazine fuel.

Tomorrow's work will include a hotfire of the auxiliary power unit to test its functionality.

"We'll power up the rocket, let it do a countdown, let it think that it's reached T-zero and going to go fly and make sure the rocket responds correctly," said Jon Cowart, Ares 1-X deputy mission manager.

The Ares 1-X Flight Test Readiness Review is scheduled for Friday to go over the remaining open paperwork, discuss technical issues and select an official launch date.

The work will not let up over the weekend, when officials plan a countdown simulation involving the launch team inside Firing Room 1 of the Launch Control Center and a staff of support engineers at Hangar AE at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Vehicle closeouts are on tap for Sunday.

Launch remains set for next Tuesday in a four-hour window opening at 8 a.m. EDT.

See our latest photo gallery of views this afternoon from Playalinda Beach just north of the launch pad.

The Ares 1-X demo booster was carted to its launch pad early Tuesday, arriving at a complex that underwent a multi-million dollar facelift to support the one-off test flight for NASA's next-generation moon program.

Read our full story.

Check out our latest photo gallery from this morning showing the arrival of Ares 1-X at launch pad 39B.

ROLLOUT COMPLETE! Ares 1-X is now hard-down on launch pad 39B to begin its 7-day stay at the oceanfront complex. Launch of the two-minute test flight is scheduled for between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. EDT on Oct. 27.

The vehicle stabilization system, a claw-like arm to guard against high winds, will be the first platform extended and attached to the rocket. Other access arms will also be unfurled before the pad's rotating service structure is extended between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. EDT this afternoon.

The crew of the crawler-transporter has been given a "go" to jack down atop the pedestals, the final step in this morning's rollout.

The crawler is expected to soon lower the launch platform onto pedestals and Ares 1-X will be hard-down on the pad.

Having climbed the ramp to the pad surface, Ares 1-X is now atop launch pad 39B. The crawler will position the launch platform over pedestals at the complex before lowering the mobile structure on the pad, completing the rollout.

The Ares 1-X rocket is now approaching its final stop on Earth -- launch pad 39B. The crawler is passing the pad gate and hydraulic pistons will soon be employed to keep the enormous structure level as it ascends the incline to the pad surface.

A new era is dawning in space history as the sun rises along the Space Coast this morning. The Ares 1-X rocket, an aerodynamic clone of the the Ares 1 crew launch vehicle, is inching its way toward launch pad 39B as the rollout passes the 6-hour mark.

At 327 feet tall, Ares 1-X is about the height of a 32-story skyscraper or about eight school buses stacked end-to-end. This is nearly 143 feet taller than the space shuttle stack at rollout.

The first stage is 12 feet in diameter and the upper stage simulator is 18 feet wide. The 1.8-million-pound rocket is almost twice the weight of a fully loaded 747 jetliner and more than five times the weight of the Statue of Liberty, minus the pedestal.

The solid-fueled stage sits in the port hole of the mobile launch platform. Engineers added ballast to the other solid rocket booster opening to provide balance during the multi-hour trip to the pad.

NASA predicts the maximum motion of the vehicle at its tip during rollout is about 1 foot. At the launch pad, movement at the attach points will be less than 6 inches.

The rollout is now passing the halfway mark, having reached the fork in the crawlerway near the Visitor's Center gantry.

Ares 1-X has now completed about 2.1 miles out of the 4.2 mile trek to pad 39B. The crawler will turn northward from the split to go toward its destination.

We have posted two more galleries of Ares 1-X's departure from the Vehicle Assembly Building this morning by Spaceflight Now's Ben Cooper and Stephen Clark.

The crawler is tugging the 16-million-pound load of rocketship and ground equipment at a snail's pace -- just 0.8 mph. This is the same speed the crawler usually rolls at with the slightly heavier space shuttle on-board. During the initial move out of the VAB high bay, the crawler was traveling at 0.2 mph.

Engineering tests show the much taller Ares 1-X rocket can withstand winds of up to 45 knots, or 52 mph. But officials were cautious in setting their wind constraint at about 30 knots, or 35 mph. Senior managers have stated they preferred rollout winds to be less than 20 knots, or 23 mph.

The 327-foot-tall booster must also not be subjected to lightning on the way to the pad. Light rainshowers are not a concern, however.

As Ares 1-X continues to voyage east toward pad 39B, check out our first photo gallery of the morning with spectacular shots from the Kennedy Space Center press site.

Now traveling at full speed, Ares 1-X, its launch platform and transporter are making good progress on the crawlerway.

Ares 1-X should be hard-down on the launch pad by about 9:30 a.m. EDT, according to a NASA spokesperson.

The stone-covered pathway connecting the VAB to the launch pad is 130 feet wide, almost as broad as an eight-lane highway. Two 40-foot-wide lanes are separated by a 50-foot-wide median strip. The average depth is seven feet.

About 30 people are aboard the transporter to operate it during the rollout, including three drivers -- a prime and backup in the front cabin and one in the rear -- a jacking and leveling operator, a control room operator to run crawler systems and talk with the Launch Control Center, two electricians, two electronic technicians and four diesel mechanics for starting, monitoring and shutting down the transporter's engines. The other team members are mechanics watching over the roll and helping with the platform's docking to the launch pad.

The transporter consumes 126 gallons of diesel fuel in each mile it travels from the VAB to pad. The vehicle has a fuel capacity of 5,000 gallons.

The rocket has emerged from the the Vehicle Assembly Building after the crawler carefully navigated past work platforms and the high bay doors.

Stacking of the Ares 1-X rocket began July 8 with the hoisting of the aft segment of the first stage. After about five weeks of assembly, the last piece of the booster was lifted atop the rocket on Aug. 13, topping off the rocket at more than 30 stories.

Since then, engineers have powered up Ares 1-X for important systems checks and an array of vibration and acoustic tests. Workers then started closing out the rocket for rollout a few weeks ago.

ROLLOUT BEGINS! For the first time in more than 30 years, a new rocket is leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building bound for the launch pad.

Tonight's historic milestone is the first such rollout since the shuttle Enterprise moved to launch pad 39A for pathfinder ground tests in June 1979.

The 327-foot-tall Ares 1-X rocket is also the tallest booster to leave the VAB since a Saturn 5 rocket launched the Skylab space station in 1973.

Ares 1-X is made of a four-segment solid rocket booster first stage borrowed from the space shuttle program. The Ares 1 second stage, Orion crew module and launch abort system are simulated with aerodynamic clones of the real hardware. Giant steel weights are also loaded inside the upper half of the rocket to mimic the mass of fuel tanks loaded with propellant.

The rocket weighs 1.8 million pounds at rollout. Its mobile launch platform weighs 8.23 million pounds and the crawler-transporter weighs 6 million pounds, so the total sum of the mass is 16.03 million pounds.

It is a 4.2-mile trip on the crawlerway to launch pad 39B. It is expected to be an 8-hour trip before the platform is lowered onto pedestals at the complex. Engineers will extend the vehicle stabilization system arm later Tuesday morning.

The official "go" for rollout has been given!

Standing by for the crawler to begin moving.

Two minutes from the expected start of the rollout, NASA says.

The hydraulic devices on the crawler-transporter are beginning to push upward and lift the Ares rocket's mobile launching platform off the pedestals in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Once the platform has been raised above pedestals and leveled, the transporter will be free to begin driving out of the VAB.

The latest projected rollout time is approximately 1:15 a.m. EDT.

The gates extending across the crawlerway just outside the VAB have been opened for the rocket to pass through.

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Weather conditions have been declared acceptable to begin the rollout this morning.

The last of the umbilical connections from the VAB has been unhooked. And with that, the "go" has been given from launch director Ed Mango to begin the hydraulic lifting of the mobile platform.

The weather continues to look "favorable" for rollout, NASA spokesperson George Diller says.

There is still a 40 percent chance of showers and no chance of lightning tonight. One more weather briefing is scheduled for 12:30 a.m. EDT as the crawler finishes its jacking and leveling procedure.

Workers fell behind schedule earlier this evening retracting platforms, according to a NASA spokesperson. Winds continue to look acceptable for rollout, and the highest gust reported this evening as been 27 knots.

The crawler is now in position beneath the mobile launch platform inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The massive trackmobile is now beginning to raise its hydraulic lift system to an intermediate point a couple of inches below the platform.

The crawler is now in position beneath the mobile launch platform inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The massive trackmobile is now beginning to raise its hydraulic lift system to an intermediate point a couple of inches below the platform.

Rollout is now expected to begin around 1 a.m. EDT, according to NASA. That's about one hour behind schedule.

Wind speeds at the space center continue to be measured just below the 30-knot rollout limit, but there have been no gusts above the constraint over the past couple of hours.

Rollout preparations are running a bit behind schedule this evening. The doors to High Bay 3 are open, but the crawler is just now beginning to inch its way toward the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The crawler was supposed to move into the VAB at about 9:30 p.m. this evening.

Officials are receiving another weather briefing on conditions being observed and forecast around Kennedy Space Center over the next few hours.

There is now a 20 percent chance peak winds during rollout will exceed 30 knots. Winds are now forecast to be out of the northeast at 15 knots gusting to 24 knots through 7 a.m. EDT. Winds will then pick up to 17 knots with gusts of 25 knots, according to forecasters.

Temperatures during rollout are expected to be between 70 degrees and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, the visibility will be 7 miles and clouds will be scattered at about 3,000 feet.

There also remains a 40 percent chance of showers over the next few hours, but there is a zero chance of lightning.

Light drizzle is falling near the Kennedy Space Center under a canopy of clouds as workers continue preps for tonight's rollout of the 327-foot-tall Ares 1-X rocket.

The crawler remains parked just outside but should move indoors shortly.

NASA officials continue to watch the weather situation, particularly the strong winds blowing across the space center tonight. The forecast issued early this afternoon called for winds 15 gusting to 23 knots. But the evening update revised the numbers to 20 peaking to 27 knots.

Rollout preps are proceeding as planned. However, there will be another weather briefing later tonight before officials commit to moving the Ares 1-X rocket out of the Vehicle Assembly Building.

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The rollout team is busy at work preparing for tonight's move of Ares 1-X. All of the access platforms have been retracted and stowed inside the VAB assembly bay were the rocket was stacked and tested over the past few months. The crawler is parked just outside and should move indoors in a little while.

Meteorologists are briefing Ares officials about the weather conditions the rocket would face during the overnight rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch pad 39B.

The outlook includes scattered clouds at 3,000 feet, good visibility, a 40 percent chance of showers, a temperature of 66 to 70 degrees F, and northeasterly winds from 040 degrees at 20 peaking to 27 knots.

Forecasters put the odds of violating the peak wind threshold of 30 knots or greater at 30 percent.

After a weather update at 7:30 p.m. EDT, the rollout team will be called to stations at about 8 p.m. EDT

Workers will hoist open the doors of the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 3 at about 9 p.m., and the crawler-transporter will be driven underneath the mobile launch platform about 30 minutes later.

The crawler will jack up the platform around 11:30 p.m. EDT tonight, about a half-hour before the Ares 1-X rocket begins its journey to launch pad 39B.

NASA reports there is a 10 percent chance of violating the wind limit during tonight's rollout. The forecast also calls for a 20 percent chance of showers and no chance of lightning.

If the rollout begins on schedule and everything goes as planned, Ares 1-X should be lowered onto pedestals at pad 39B by about 8 a.m. EDT tomorrow.

Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are gearing up to haul the towering Ares 1-X rocket to launch pad 39B early Tuesday for an unmanned $445 million test flight Oct. 27 that likely will play a major role in the ongoing debate about NASA's post-shuttle manned space program.

NASA managers met early Monday and agreed the Ares 1-X flight was now NASA's top near-term priority. Because many engineers supporting the Ares test also are needed for shuttle processing, work to ready Atlantis for launch on the next space station assembly and resupply mission will be stretched out a bit. NASA had been targeting Nov. 12 for launch, but managers today agreed on Nov. 16 as a more realistic "no-earlier-than" launch date, officials said.

Read our full story.

Preparations are on schedule for the late night departure of the Ares 1-X rocket on the way to launch pad 39B, a NASA spokesperson says.

The Apollo-era crawler-transporter that will haul the 327-foot-tall rocket and its launch platform is parked right outside the doors of High Bay 3 of the mammoth Vehicle Assembly Building.

A weather briefing for the rollout team is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EDT this evening, followed by call-to-stations at 8 p.m. EDT.

The National Weather Service forecast for the Kennedy Space Center area calls for a slight chance of showers and northeast winds between 10 mph and 15 mph.

Weather constraints for the Ares 1-X rollout include a wind limit of 20 knots, or about 23 mph. Lightning would also threaten rollout.

First motion is still planned at 12:01 a.m. EDT Tuesday morning to begin the 4.2-mile trip to the pad. Arrival at the oceanfront complex should occur about 8-to-10 hours later.

The Ares 1-X test rocket is still scheduled to move to launch pad 39B Tuesday morning after engineers replaced a leaky part inside the first stage's steering system.

Jon Cowart, the mission's deputy project manager, said the only hurdle standing in the way of rollout on Tuesday is the availability of a crawler-transporter to carry the rocket and its launch platform from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the seaside pad.

"We've had a bit of an issue with our crawler-transporters. Both of them have experienced failures in the last couple of days, so we're working very hard on Crawler-Transporter 2. There's a bearing that they're having to look at and I think they're going to get past this issue," Cowart told Spaceflight Now on Saturday night.

"If they do, and we have every expectation right now they they will, it looks like we will roll out Monday night," Cowart said.

First motion out of the VAB would occur at 12:01 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

Teams are working over the weekend to close out the rocket's first stage aft skirt after installing a fresh hydraulic accumulator.

If Ares 1-X is able to roll out Tuesday, one day later than planned, Cowart said the launch could still occur as scheduled on Oct. 27.

The test flight shares much of the same launch pad workforce now preparing the shuttle Atlantis for a mission next month.

"There's still some active negotiation to be done with our shuttle brethren as well as the Range folks, but it looks like we can work things around. You know we had gone to that eight-day pad flow. Even rolling out a day late, if we can get good cooperation, and it looks like we will, we can condense our pad flow back down to seven days and still make our first launch attempt on the 27th," Cowart said.

Ares 1-X only has Oct. 27 and Oct. 28 booked with the Air Force due to the Eastern Range's unavailability in late October and early November. Barring fruitful negotiations, the next attempt would slip to November at the earliest.

Officials held a program-level Flight Readiness Review at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday.

"We had a good meeting where we reviewed all of our open items, open paper and work to go," Cowart said.

"We talked about some of the big issues we've had over the course over the last couple of years, the ones that got everyone's attention, and when we looked at all that and we laid out the work that we had to go do, there's some open paperwork that still has to be closed out," Cowart said.

But managers approved plans for rollout and continuing launch preps in advance of a senior agency-level FRR.

"We got a unanimous go to proceed to rollout, closing the items that we have, and proceeding to the agency FRR next Friday."

NASA is still clinging to hope for rolling out the Ares 1-X rocket to the launch pad Tuesday morning, but the 327-foot-tall demo booster may have to stay in the Vehicle Assembly Building until Wednesday.

The leaky accumulator inside the rocket's aft skirt has been replaced with a fresh device, but testing of the new part will take several days.

A NASA spokesperson says a formal decision on the rollout date will probably not come until Saturday night or Sunday.

The affect of the delays on Ares 1-X's ultimate launch date is also still up in the air. A move to the pad on Tuesday would still leave some hope for liftoff on Oct. 27, but further rollout slips would likely force a launch delay.

Rollout of the Ares 1-X rocket has been delayed due to a technical glitch uncovered during processing inside the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Previously set to begin at 12:01 a.m. EDT Monday morning, the 4.2-mile journey to launch pad 39B will now occur no earlier than Tuesday. But the rollout could be pushed back further.

"It's going to be kind of hazy until at least Friday, and maybe even Saturday," a NASA spokesperson said.

The delay will give engineers time to remove and replace a faulty accumulator found to be leaking gaseous nitrogen in the first stage thrust vector control system, according to NASA.

The nitrogen is leaking past a seal and into an area of the accumulator containing hydraulic fluid. The device absorbs hydraulic pressure spikes as the rocket's steering system operates.

Engineers are installing a replacement part today and will begin retesting the system on Friday.

It is unclear if this delay will affect the test flight's Oct. 27 launch date. Officials were planning an eight-day stay at the pad because Ares 1-X will have to share personnel with shuttle Atlantis on nearby launch pad 39A.

If rollout is only postponed one day, launch could still occur Oct. 27. A further delay could jeapordize that launch date.

Ares 1-X has Oct. 27 and Oct. 28 to get off the ground or else face a longer wait. The Air Force Eastern Range, a network of communications and tracking sites, is unavailable at the end of October and early November due to unspecified activity.

The Eastern Range is required to support all launches from Cape Canaveral.

After reviewing the status of preparatory work inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, mission managers gave approval Friday to proceed toward rollout of the slender Ares 1-X test rocket on Oct. 19.

Read our full story.

The rocket NASA plans to launch later this month on a first-of-a-kind test flight has passed its final exam before trekking to the pad in less than two weeks.

Read our full story.

With one month left before NASA takes the new Ares 1 rocket on an early test run, a senior official says he is "pretty confident" engineers will be allowed to launch the booster despite swirling questions about the program's future.

Read our full story.

NASA has decided to move up the first test launch of its new Ares 1 rocket by four days to Oct. 27, the agency announced Tuesday.

Read our full story.

Managers in charge of an October flight test of NASA's new Ares rocket defended the merits of the $350 million launch Sunday, telling reporters the demo provides valuable experience for engineers, no matter what booster the agency uses to replace the retiring space shuttle.

Read our full story.

Engineers added the final piece to NASA's skyscraping Ares 1 test rocket overnight Thursday, topping off the 327-foot-tall demo booster as senior White House officials deliberate whether the agency's moonbound program is still viable.

Read our full story.

NASA moved one step closer to a long-awaited test flight of America's new moon rocket Wednesday night, when engineers hoisted the first piece of the booster atop an Apollo-era launch platform.

Read our full story.