Spaceflight

NASA workers at the Glenn Research Centre in Ohio are assembling components for a mass mockup of the Ares I launch vehicle second stage that will be used for a test flight next year.

Engineers are building the simulator as 11 stackable cylindrical sections, dubbed "tuna cans", each made of two 12mm (0.5in)-thick 3t steel plates rolled in a circular shape and welded together.

Two ballast containers inside the structure will be loaded with steel discs to bring the weight up to about 140t, the expected weight of the actual stage.