According to the media report sent from the Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, Alabama), NASA uses iTunes to share development progress of Ares rocket, "The Ares Projects quarterly progress reports offer viewers a rare glimpse at the on-going development work of the next-generation launch vehicles that will take explorers to the moon and beyond in coming decades."

It adds, "Beginning in 2015, the Ares I rocket will launch the Orion crew capsule, carrying astronauts and payloads to the International Space Station.”

NASA is providing developmental details of these future Ares rockets with regards to its engine, various systems, and hardware components.

Watch these five-to-fifteen-minute video reports, which have been created every three months since August 2006.

The latest one, as of this date on November 28, 2008, shows: “Wind tunnel testing of scale models of the Ares I test vehicle, known as Ares I-X, and the Ares V rocket. The testing aids engineers in designing aerodynamic vehicles.”

It also describes “Disassembly and inspection of part of the J-2X engine -- known as the powerpack -- that will produce the thrust needed to power the Ares I rocket to orbit. The powerpack pushes liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the engine's main combustion chamber. This test series helped address early design risks. Engineers are now evaluating hardware used as part of the recent testing.”

See page two for the rest of this iTunes video, along with where to go to view this iTunes video and other NASA Ares videos.

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A third discussion centers around “The first tests to weld together pieces of the rockets being developed. NASA recently tested a new robotic friction stir welding facility by fusing space shuttle fuel tank panels. Friction stir welding is an innovative technique invented in 1991 that uses forging pressure and frictional heating to produce high-strength bonds virtually free of defects. “

A fourth section involves, “A test of a parachute for the Ares I rocket. The parachute will slow the rapid descent of the rocket's reusable first-stage motor as it falls back to Earth after detaching from the rocket during its climb to space. The parachute permits recovery of the motor for use on future Ares I flights.”

To view the iTunes website that contains the free NASA videos, go to “America’s Rockets.”

You’ll need to have the iTune software downloaded (and registered) to your computer or device.
 
The Ares I and Ares V are part of the overall Project Constellation.

Also, within this new NASA manned project is the development of the Orion crew module, where the astronauts will live and work during their missions, and the Altair lunar lander for future Moon missions.

NASA also has additional media sources at “NASA Multimedia.”
 
Recording of these iTunes videos by NASA is a good idea. I think it should be done by all government projects to verify the progress in the development of such projects and, thereafter, the maintenance of such projects.

In this way, we the citizens (who are paying for such projects, whether done by the U.S. government or other country's governments) can follow and verify whether such projects are being developed on time and within budget.

However, we all need be active in demanding that such projects are, in fact, developed on time and within budget and, most importantly, to the quality standards that result in good conclusions for each and every project.