posted 11-04-2009 03:18 PM               

...the Ares I-X engineering team will study the costs and benefits of going ahead with a 2012 launch previously dubbed "Ares I-X prime" that would flight-test a full five-segment Ares I solid-fuel first stage and the Orion crew exploration vehicle launch abort system at high altitude, according to Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley.

...Bob Ess, the Ares I-X mission manager, will oversee the I-X prime study. Expected to take about two months, the study will apply the lessons learned from the Oct. 28 Ares I-X test to a more elaborate flight that also will test the Ares I stage separation system and a water landing and recovery of a higher fidelity Orion capsule than the boilerplate version that flew last week.

The test scenario would have the five-segment first stage fly a nominal ascent, with a simulated upper stage ignition failure. The Orion launch abort system would pull the capsule free of the mass-simulated upper stage, and the capsule would parachute back into the ocean.

The test also would give NASA another chance to test the parachute system that failed to deploy fully on the Ares I-X test.