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10:36
NASA Ares I-X launch
This morning NASA fired off the Ares I-X, an unmanned test of the first stage of its first new manned spacecraft since 1981. After the space shuttle disasters, NASA hopes this will be the safest craft they've ever built. But the new tall, spindly rocket is already mired in controversy--with critics saying it would be cheaper to repurpose existing launch vehicles.
This morning NASA fired off the Ares I-X, an unmanned test of the first stage of its first new manned spacecraft since 1981. After the space shuttle disasters, NASA hopes this will be the safest craft they've ever built. But the new tall, spindly rocket is already mired in controversy--with critics saying it would be cheaper to repurpose existing launch vehicles.
Guest:
Miles O'Brien, space, aviation and technology journalist
Scott Jay "Doc" Horowitz, former Shuttle Astronaut and Ares 1 designer who ran the exploration program at NASA headquarters