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War of the Worlds deja vu: Ares towers rise
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Set against the mists of a slow orange dawn, the lightning towers for the new Ares rockets rise at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This NASA photo provides a delectable frisson, a tickling reminder of the genius of Orson Welles and H.G. Wells.
This, however, is no science fiction. Named for Ares, the Greek god of war, the new rocket series in the Constellation program is being designed to return astronauts to the moon--and some day, on to Mars, the stuff of dreams. Anyone who's ever listened to the original Halloween 1938 broadcast of a Martian invasion of Earth--said listening preferably done away from phones, TV, lights, computers, the constant noise of modern life--knows the power of imagination.
The Wells classic was republished in many formats, and artists around the world created their own version of the strange metallic beings that landed in Grover's Mill, N.J. In its likeness to the KSC photo above, this Alvim Correa version from CynosureX reflects the crossroads where science fiction and science collide.
NASA is faced with a daunting challenge: continue the final series of space shuttle missions while designing and testing a new rocket series. That involves sharing launch pad facilities. But recent shuttle delays--STS-119 and the Hubble reservicing mission--have created a conflict for pad use.
Serious main propulsion system flow control valve problems have temporarily sidelined Discovery. My exclusive series reveals how the problems date back as far as 1992, and pinpoint how the delay is affecting schedules for the side-by-side shuttle/Ares programs.
Image credit for KSC photo: NASA Constellation Blog
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