Smarter Geek

The Ares 1-X countdown has now stopped at T-4 minutes and they are waiting to see if they can complete the tasks to launch the vehicle in the next 20 minutes.

What a sight it will be when the Ares 1-X in the background lifts off the launch pad with the Shuttle Atlantis also on the pad at the same time.

Well the sun has come up and the Area 1-X is looking ready to fly however due to the delays with the getting the rocket ready it is unlikely that it will launch today as the weather conditions seem to be getting worse.

Apparently they just broke a torque wrench that is used to close a hatch on the Ares 1-X dummy upper stage and now they have to get a spare to close the hatch. Right now they are running about 30 minutes late but apparently this is not going to affect the planned launch time of 8am East Coast time.

They just released a weather balloon to test the winds before the launch of the Ares 1-X that is now 1 hours 30 min from launching. Next step will be to swing away the service structure clear for launch.