Ares I-X Launches

Smoke engulfs Launch Pad 39B as the Ares I-X test rocket takes off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 28. (NASA/ Sandra Joseph and Kevin O’Connell)

October 28th, NASA launched its Ares I-X prototype vehicle, the first launch from Kennedy’s pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program’s Saturn rockets were retired. NASA’s Constellation Program’s 327-foot-tall rocket produced 2.96 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and reached a speed of 100 mph in eight seconds. The Big Picture blog has the coverage of 28 photos documenting its creation.

NASA’s Ares 1-X rocket lifts off from launch pad 39-b at the Kennedy Space Center October 28, 2009 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A cone of moisture surrounds part of the Ares I-X rocket during lift off Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009, on a sub-orbital test flight from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-B in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara