HUNTSVILLE, Alabama USA — A clear blue sky Tuesday was marked by the white smoke trail from a NASA rocket at Marshall Space Flight Center, and its world-renowned rocket boy - Homer Hickam - was on hand to watch the launch.

NASA test engineer Vinson Huegle, left, author Homer Hickam and Steve Cook, director of the ARES Projects Office at MSFC, send up the Ares I model. Photo: Eric Schultz.

MORE ON THIS STORY:
WHNT-TV Huntsville's launch coverage of the Ares Prototype.
WAAY-TV's Ares Prototype coverage, more indepth than above.

Although Marshall is known mostly for developing the business end of NASA's rocket propulsion and not the launches, this one was a special prototype, scaled-down Ares I rocket built to showcase the design of NASA's next launch vehicle.

"It's symbolic of what Marshall does, and what this small rocket represents is the future of NASA and the Ares (programs)," said Hickam, a 20-year Marshall veteran and author of the 1998 book "Rocket Boys: A Memoir," which became the 1999 motion picture "October Sky." "When NASA does build the Ares I and later the Ares V, they are going to perform pretty much the way this small rocket did."

Hickam came to Marshall to speak with Steve Cook, director of the Ares Projects Office at Marshall, and other Marshall engineers about Ares work, he said.

Ultimately, NASA plans to build the Ares I rocket, which will stand 309 feet tall, and use it to loft the six-person Orion crew capsule to the International Space Station and possibly use the still-in-development Ares V heavy lift rockets to take four people to the moon.

But model rockets still have their place, said Cook and Hickam.

"What's better than a rocket launch to inspire young people?" Hickam said. "They learn about science, engineering and, at the end, they get to launch a rocket. You can't beat launching a rocket with any kind of project.

"Once you press that button something is going to happen. It's much better than having (students) just sitting around and reading about things on a computer screen."

Cook said the Ares I prototype rockets were built by the Estes-Cox Corp., long known for its educational model rocket kits.

"We sent them the specifications," Cook said, "and they sent us these prototypes."

NASA plans to use the small rockets as learning tools during school visits to help students understand the space agency's exploration plans, Cook said.

Meanwhile, NASA engineers are working at a fast pace and are on schedule for the April 2009 test flight of the first stage of the Ares I, Cook said.

Known as the Ares I-X test flight, the launch will put the Ares solid rocket booster first stage through its paces. That launch will have a simulated second stage and Orion crew capsule in place to mimic the mass, weight and aerodynamic properties of the planned Ares I.

"We're counting down the days," Cook said. "It's gearing up for April of next year, and then we will have launched our first new rocket in more than two decades."

Copyright © 2008, The Huntsville Times.