A time-lapse photo of a rocket launch powered by new aluminum-ice propellant. Credit: Purdue University

Last week researchers from Purdue and Penn State University launched a rocket that uses an unconventional propellant: aluminum-ice. The fuel mix, dubbed ALICE, is made of nano-aluminum powder and frozen water, and gets its thrust from the chemical reaction between the ingredients. The propellant is environmentally friendly, and it could perhaps allow spacecraft to refuel at locations like the moon, where water has been discovered.

Using aluminum for fuel is not completely new--the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters use a small amount of the metal, as will NASA's Ares rocket. But the new work involves making aluminum one of the key ingredients by using nanoscale particles. These tiny particles, when ignited, combust more rapidly than larger particles, forcing more exhaust gases out of the metal and giving the rocket the necessary kick.

The oxygen and hydrogen in water molecules enhance the combustion of the aluminum. Freezing the propellant keeps it intact, avoiding any premature reactions.

The propellant was able to lift a rocket 396 meters during an August flight test, which was funded by NASA and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Now, for even better performance, the researchers are working on adjusting the ratios of different ingredients and possibly mixing the nano-aluminum with larger aluminum particles.

A water-based propellant might one day mean that spacecraft could carry less fuel when traveling to distant locations like the moon or even mars. But it would also be nice to have a "greener" fuel for rocket launches back on Earth.

The launch of NASA's new rocket, Ares I-X, on October 28 was the first test flight of a new launch vehicle since the Apollo missions. The flight was spectacular and historic, but the famous Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin says it was little more than a half-a-billion dollar political show.

In an editorial in The Huffington Post, Aldrin calls the rocket for "fake", because the Ares I-X was a prototype rocket built to look like the rocket designed to replace the aging space shuttles and take humans to the moon and beyond, Ares I. For example, its four-segment solid rocket boosters were taken from the space shuttle and the fifth segment was a mock, made of steel cylinders. The rocket's upper stage was also a mock-up (the final will include the J-2X engine and Orion crew capsule), but it used real parachutes for recovery of the boosters. The Ares I-X flight objectives were to gather data during the first two minutes of ascent, when the rocket is most likely to fail, to help engineers better design and development the Ares I.

Aldrin writes that technical problems have "haunted the Ares like leftovers from Halloween," and says that, "to stave off critics, three years ago the Project Constellation managers conceived of the 1-X flight to supposedly show some progress."

The concept of the Ares I-X flight, however, mirrors the development of the Saturn family of rockets that carried the astronauts, Aldrin included, to the moon. During the development of Saturn IB, for example, many test flights were conducted when different segments and parts of the rocket were engineered.

NASA's current plan is to use two rockets to return humans to the moon--Ares I for crew and Ares V as a heavy lifter, carrying things like a lunar habitat. Aldrin notes that it took just one rocket during the Apollo missions, and says that two rockets in development means "two price tags. Two ways for failure to occur. Or delays to develop."

Worse yet, neither rocket alone can accomplish a deep space mission. And deep space, such as Mars is, as our friends in the recent Augustine report stated, our destination in space . . . Ares 1 is too small, barely able to lift the crew space capsule. And Ares V is too weak to boost all of the elements together.

What do we need? One rocket for all our deep space missions. Save the taxpayer's money by canceling the Ares 1 and V. And go "back to the future" in designing the big beast.

Fortunately, Aldrin has a plan: use the commercial sector for transportation to the space station--which would save money--and start building a heavy lifter "worthy of Saturn V's successor." He says the moon should be an international affair, opening up the design competition outside of just NASA, and our efforts should be on Mars.

If we bypass a foolish Moon race . . . we will have time to refine the super booster to make sure it is compatible with our deep space goals, like missions flying by comets or asteroids -- or to the moons of Mars. Such a rocket would be ready when the time comes to colonize Mars. No more false starts and dead end rockets.

One thing the Augustine Panel's final report pointed out is that we should be building infrastructure in space, such as refueling technology, so that rockets that are smaller and cheaper could be used for missions that would otherwise be outside their weight class and larger rockets would have their capabilities enhanced.

The decision is still out on what the next U.S. rocket for space travel will be, but whatever it is (and Aldrin confesses he has his own design), he says, "heavy lifting doesn't have to be heavy spending, if we do the right job."

Ares I-X sits on launch pad 39B. Credit: NASA

At 8:00 a.m.* EDT tomorrow, October 27, NASA will launch a test rocket called Ares I-X from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket is the first new launch vehicle to be tested in nearly four decades and the test will gather data critical to the design and development of Ares I--NASA's new rocket designed to replace the aging space shuttles and take humans to the moon, and possibly to Mars and beyond as part of the Constellation program.

Last week it took engineers almost seven hours to roll Ares I-X to launch pad 39B where it completed its flight readiness review. Now NASA's biggest concern for lift off is the weather. The agency has a four hour launch window, and while it only needs 10 minutes of clear skies for a "go", the forecasters are calling for 60 percent chance of clouds. If the launch is scrubbed, engineers will try again on Wednesday.

The test flight comes at a trying time for NASA, after its plan for the future of human exploration underwent an independent review and the outcome did not favor the Ares I. Despite these findings, NASA officials support the test flight, saying the data gathered will be useful for the design of any future rocket.

"This is the first time in more than 30 years that NASA has built a vehicle in a new configuration so this has been a valuable learning experience," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in a press release."This test will yield important data to support the nation's next steps in exploration. There is no substitute for hard data--flight testing clarifies the distinction between imagined outcomes and real flight experience."

Follow the launch on Twitter, and the Ares I-X blog, then return to Delta-V for a post-flight analysis.

*Update 8:49 a.m, 10/27.: The launch has been delayed, scheduled for 9:24 a.m.. A rain shower is expected to pass over the launch pad at 9:50 a.m., which could cause further delays if not launched as currrently scheduled.

*Update 9:39 a.m.: There is a cargo ship in the Atlantic Ocean "danger zone", so launch is now scheduled for 9:49 a.m.

*Update 9:54 a.m.: NASA is now waiting for a break in the clouds for flight. The weather aircraft is making its flight and NASA will announce a new launch time in 5 minutes.

*Update 10:35 a.m.: New launch time is 10:54 a.m., but weather forecasters not so confident the skies will hold.

*Update 11:26 a.m.: Today's launch attempt has been scrubbed due to weather. NASA will try again tomorrow, October 28, starting at 8:00 a.m. EDT.