NASA’s new rocket is on the launching pad.
The experimental Ares rocket travelled from the hangar to the pad on Tuesday morning. The four-mile (6.4 kilometre) trip took all night.
It’s the first time in 34 years that a rocket other than the space shuttle has stood at Launch Pad 39-B. NASA modified the pad for this rocket.
The rocket is supposed to eventually carry astronauts to the moon, but the White House may scrap those plans.
The test rocket will blast off next Tuesday on a two-and-a-half minute flight to demonstrate how the partial first stage performs. The rocket is thin and exceptionally tall at 327 feet (99.7 metres) and looks like what will carry astronauts into orbit, possibly by 2015. But much of it is a mock-up, and no payload will be on board.
