Bad weather likely to disrupt U.S. Ares rocket launch

There is currently only a 40% chance of favorable weather for Tuesday's launch of the new Ares I-X rocket, scheduled for 8:00 a.m. EDT (Noon GMT) in Florida, NASA said.

MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - There is currently only a 40% chance of favorable weather for Tuesday's launch of the new Ares I-X rocket, scheduled for 8:00 a.m. EDT (Noon GMT) in Florida, NASA said.

The launch will be NASA's first flight test for the new spacecraft, central to the agency's plans for human spaceflight after the shuttle fleet is retired.

"The flight test will provide NASA with an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I," NASA said on its website.

According to the U.S. space agency, about 30 team members are currently operating at Kennedy's Launch Control Center.

Ares rockets are to replace space shuttles, which are due to stop operating in 2010-2011. Skeptics say NASA will not be able to put Ares into operation earlier than 2016. If so, the U.S. will have to use Russian space agency Roscosmos' services to send its astronauts to the ISS.