NASA launched Wednesday a new rocket it hopes will one day return astronauts to the Moon on a two-minute test flight.
The Ares I-X rocket blasted off at 11:30 am (1530 GMT) from Cape Canaveral in Florida after a series of delays due to poor weather conditions.
Standing 327 feet (100 meters) tall, the Ares I-X is the longest rocket ever built, and it was the first spacecraft the Kennedy Space Center has launched other than a shuttle in 30 years.
The Ares I-X is a prototype of the Ares I, which along with a new exploration vehicle called the Orion is intended to replace NASA's aging shuttle fleet that is due to be retired in 2010.
NASA aims to gather data from more than 700 sensors placed along the rocket to enable engineers to fine-tune their design.
Ares and Orion are part of Constellation, NASA's grand program to send astronauts back to the Moon by 2020, and then on to Mars and other destinations.
The test flight is crucial as the White House is considering a report ordered by President Barack Obama's administration that raises concerns about Ares and the whole Constellation project.
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
