The Delta Mariner is docked at Port Canaveral Fla. with its cargo of the Ares I-X upper stage simulator segments.

The Delta Mariner is docked at Port Canaveral, Fla., with its cargo of the Ares I-X upper stage simulator segments. The cranes near the ship will be used to remove the segments and place them on a flatbed truck for transportation to the Vehicle Assembly Building's high bay 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The upper stage simulator will be used in the test flight identified as Ares I-X in 2009. The segments will simulate the mass and the outer mold line and will be more than 100 feet of the total vehicle height of 327 feet. The simulator comprises 11 segments that are approximately 18 feet in diameter. Most of the segments will be approximately 10 feet high, ranging in weight from 18,000 to 60,000 pounds, for a total of approximately 450,000 pounds. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis