An investigation has been conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center 14-by 22-Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel to obtain the liftoff and transition aerodynamics of the Ares I (A106) Crew Launch Vehicle. Data were obtained in free-air at angles of attack from -10° to 90° at various roll angles and at roll angles of 0° to 360° at various angles of attack. In addition, tower effects were assessed by testing with and without a mobile launcher/tower at all wind azimuth angles and at various model heights to simulate the rise of the vehicle as it clears the tower on launch. The free-air data will be used for low speed high angle of attack flight simulation and as a bridge to the low angle of attack ascent database (0.5 < Mach < 5.0) being developed with data from the Langley Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel and Boeing Polysonic Wind Tunnel. The Ares I Database Development Team will add incremental tower effects data to the free-air data to develop the database for tower clearance.
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