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[b]Access arm, RSS, VSS retraction[/b] NASA is configuring Pad 39B to support the Ares I-X launch, targeted for just about one hour from now. Retraction of the upper stage access arm is complete and the rotating service structure (RSS) has been moved away. The vehicle stabilization system (VSS), the clamp-like arms that steadied the 327-foot rocket from swaying in the wind at the pad, is also being retracted, leaving just four hold-down posts connecting Ares I-X to the mobile launcher platform. With the VSS disconnected, the booster's fault tolerant inertial navigation unit is beginning its final alignment. Known as the FTINU, it's located in the upper stage and will guide the rocket during flight using information from the redundant rate gyroscopes at either end of the vehicle. The system was developed from Atlas V avionics.
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