Ares 1-X Superpan

The rollout of the Ares 1-X to Launch Complex 39B has been rescheduled for Tuesday, October 20, 2009.  Leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building shortly after midnight, Ares will ride on the same crawler-transporter and crawlerway that is utilized for the Space Shuttle and the Saturn V before it.  Until then, Ares remains in the VAB.

To document the stay of Ares in the VAB a superpan was made.  While a normal panorama (pan) presents a wide angle view, a superpan gives a full 360º view of a subject.  You can view the superpan here.  The full length of the Ares X-1 may be viewed, along with much of the facility inside Bay 3 of the VAB.  Some things to look for:  the removeable access floors for engineers to work on the rocket,  the larger cutout for the external tank and right booster rocket for a Space Shuttle, the yellow cranes that run just below the roof, and the height indicators for the Space Shuttle and Ares 1-X.

Ares 1-X Launch in the Palm of Your Hand

NASA's myexploration website features weekly videos about the upcoming Ares 1-X launch, and gives you a chance to virtually participate.  Using the embedded Flash player, learn all about the mission of the Ares 1-X, and join the discussions on Facebook and Twitter.  Besides the great information about Ares 1-X, you can use a 3DV augmented reality viewer to see the Ares 1-X in the palm of your hand (Flash player 10 and a webcam are needed to use this feature).  NASA is also looking for your videos to launch on Ares!  Video yourself finishing this statement:  Space Exploration is important because...   Videos are then uploaded to NASA (60 seconds or less) to be recorded on a media that will be launched aboard the rocket.  Make sure to share it with the OLC as well, by uploading it to the 'Ares 1-X' folder in the Drop Box.