On Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. NASA launched the 327-foot Ares I-X rocket to space in efforts to return astronauts to the moon.

More than 5,000 Utah employees helped design and build the Ares I rocket 117-foot-long motor for Alliant Techsystems. The Ares I rocket is the beginning of a new era in the U.S. space program, from all the hard work and dedication of all of the workers and engineers at NASA, ATK and Northrop Grumman, many of whom are

Courtesy of nasa hq photo

U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said in a news release “It took the concerted efforts of thousands of people over many years, under very tough budget conditions, to get the Ares I to this point.”

It is great that some of Utah’s citizens are apart of such a magnificent work and study of space exploration that could possible one day send humans past our moon to other planets and moons. Adding new knowledge of findings to our data we already have in our books, that we may not have known until actual human space exploring.

This is a huge project that could change our future. It may lead to the first human flight to Mars — what a day that will be when the first human walks on a planet other than earth. This is amazing, and hopefully our children will be able to experience such an event as a human exploring another planet.

The main focus is to send humans beyond low Earth orbit for exploration of multiple destinations throughout the solar system. This launch is a milestone in the development of NASA’s Constellation Program, which will also support missions to the International Space Station.

About 3.3 million pounds of thrust propelled the craft up to four times the speed of sound. The rocket carried more than 700 sensors to measure the stress and strains on the spacecraft to make sure it was safe for possible human flight.

The Ares I is scheduled to carry astronauts in March 1015 to the International Space Station.  NASA managers expect to learn a great deal from the launch. The flight cost $445 million — for engineers to enhance their computer and model designs.

I am glad that more than 5,000 Utah citizens had the opportunity to be apart of the Ares I-X rocket launch that hopefully will be the beginning of human exploration beyond the stars. Each day we are discovering new things and ideas from experiments and findings that are changing the science books. And what a blessing it is to live in these times of new discoveries in science and technology.