Ares Roll Out

NASA has rolled out its new Ares launcher from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad. The unmanned Ares 1-X test flight is scheduled for next week.

At 327 feet tall, Ares is an impressive sight-- every inch the Moon rocket NASA hopes it will be. That future is in doubt, however. The Obama administration is still formulating its plans for manned spaceflight, and there's no guarantee Ares will be a part of them. Indeed, one possible indication that next week's flight is as much about politics as it is about engineering is that the next scheduled test flight of this launcher is not until 2014.

The Ares team needs a big success on Ares 1-X.