27-08-09 Test for Nasa's new rocket motor

The first-stage rocket motor that US space agency (NASA) hopes will launch astronauts in future undergoes its first full-scale test on Thursday.The static firing will take place at a facility owned by manufacturer Alliant Techsystems Inc (ATK) in Utah.The five-segment booster is intended to power the early flight phase of Nasa's Ares 1 rocket,the vehicle designed to loft its new Orion crew carrier.The two-minute burn will give engineers valuable performance data.Further engineering data will come from the October flight of a demonstrator version of the Ares 1 known as Ares 1-X.Nasa is scheduled to retire its space shuttles next year,and has begun the development of a new human space launch "architecture" called Constellation.The architecture calls for two new rockets:the Ares 1 to launch crew,and a new heavy-lift rocket known as Ares 5 that could put into orbit the equipment needed by an Orion capsule to travel to the Moon and beyond.However,all the systems are under review by a top-level panel led by former Lockheed Martin chief executive Norm Augustine.President Barack Obama has asked the panel to assess different options for getting US astronauts into space