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The new NASA missile has installed on the launch pad. / October 23, 2009 /

NASA experts have completed the installation of launch vehicle «Ares» on the launch pad. Space.com reported. The launch, which should be the first for carriers of this family, is scheduled for October 27, 2009.

According to experts, this is the first time in the last quarter-century, when it arrived at the launch pad for a rocket of a new model — to date for the withdrawal of the spacecraft into orbit using media developed in 70 of the last century. The process of transporting rockets from the assembly shop has taken about 7 hours. Besides a direct exit from the missile hangar was detained for at least an hour, because of the difficulty of loading.

The height of the new missile is 100 meters. For comparison, the length of the launch vehicle «Soyuz», which is used Roskosmos, is just over 50 meters. «Ares», however, is not the biggest rocket in history — that title belongs to the «Saturn», which was used to transport astronauts to the moon. The length of the missile was about 110 meters.

The new rocket Ares-IX »a suborbital version of the carrier Ares-I», the lightest of the line developed by NASA «Ares. The mission is the testing of technologies used in the manufacture of missiles, as well as test-board equipment. As part of the flight the rocket will rise vertically, then return to earth model of «Orion», which is installed on top of the rocket. The cost of the Ares-IX »is about 445 million dollars.

Draft new launcher criticized almost from the beginning of development. Many experts, in particular, note the high cost of the new program. Recently, even the information appeared that, according to the findings of the special Finance Committee, NASA should abandon the development of heavy versions of Ares that do not get out within your budget.

In addition, the development of new missiles come across a large number of technical difficulties. Thus, experts feared that the vibration of the rocket during the first seconds of flight could result in damage to equipment on board or even a danger to the crew.

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