Time Magazine's Best Invention of the Year

I stopped giving credence to Time's "of the year" picks some time ago. The text article says it "can launch human beings to cosmic destinations we'd never considered before." The Ares I itself isn't intended to launch anything beyond LEO, though to be fair, the article does mention a "link up" with hardware launched by Ares V. The worst thing about the article is that it doesn't make it clear that what was launched was not an Ares I, but an Ares I-X.

Clearly TIME doesn't know the difference between a completed invention and one still in progress. Sorta like this year's Nobel Peace Prize I guess.

But Keith, in illustrating why 1-X doesn't clear that bar, you came off too harsh on what it did accomplish. I don't dispute your facts, nor the assertion that this is not ready for prime time, much less awards. But I also agree with NASA's statement that it was a successful experiment.

I wish I could get $400M for my experiments. Sure would buy a lot of knowledge.

What a crock. The largest model rocket ever flown is hardly the greatest invention of 2009.

Keith, that's why you are invited on the various news programs. These reporters don't have a clue. And if they can't figure out what is going on with the space program how can anyone have any confidence on what they report with regards to Congress or the White House? I rarely watch network news anymore.

This is sad although I am sure NASA is not taking too much time and trouble to make any corrections to the story.

How is a rocket like Ares 1 a great invention when it has not yet flown????

Who writes this crap??

Time Magazine needs to fire its science editor since the Ares 1-X booster wasn't even a 5 segment booster.

Maybe Time Magazine should call the Ares 1-X 4 segment booster the best invention of 1981:-)

Marcel F. Williams

I have to say that I like the choice of picture for this article. It makes a nice juxtaposition. I like that diver in the background, too.

Sad commentary on the state of our populist 'journalism'.

All Ares-1x proved was that the regular STS SRB works, Atlas avionics work, SRB parachutes work, boats retrieving this crap from the ocean work, the crawlers made 40 years ago work. As we knew.

What the f'k did these no-doubt hardworking, but perhaps slightly confused Ares-1x folks do for 5 some years and hundreds of millions of dollars?!

Great invention - Not!

As this forum seems of one mind, I most likely wasting my time, but at any rate I’ll give it shot.
Yes, Ares 1-X was cobbled together, as is Direct, SpaceBoosters, any LSP solution, Shuttle derived, etc.
What was the point of Ares 1-X? it proved that the configuration could fly, which was claimed by a few experts that it couldn’t. The experiment proved and disproved a good number of math models, all which can be applied to any future work. Not to mention that the data that it produced that will be under review for months. The vibroaccoustic issues mentioned are also seemingly much less then originally projected based on Ares 1-X and the test fire in Utah, not to mention vibroaccoustic issues are nothing new on any vehicle. Did it matter that it was a 4 segment booster for the test? No, was a 5 segment booster ready to use? No
Danwithaplan, where do you get your data from? 5 years please go back and do a little more research.

No surprise that Time would screw this up. This is, after all, the same Time magazine that just ran a cover story praising the disaster that is the State of California, and proclaiming that following CA's recipe for social/economic disaster would be a good thing for the rest of the country...

The Time list of "best inventions of 2009" also includes the Messenger probe (launched in 2004), teleportation, a video game without a controller, a football team that doesn't punt, a human-powered vending machine, and "the edible racing car". The magazine rather unnecessarily also supplies a list of "worst inventions of 2009".