The pads are full of old and new.

The Aries 1X and shuttle are both on the pads now. Just a few more days until Aries flies for the first time.
I was just thinking something else about this new rocket. It sure won't sound as good as the shuttle. One SRB rocket vs. the shuttle's 2 SRBs, and 3 SSMEs all firing at the same time. To quote Alan Bean when seeing Alan Shepard fly:

"He's gone higher than I've ever gone, and faster than I've ever gone, and most importantly, he's made more noise doing it."

NOISE! Will the Aries be the rocket equivalent of a Honda rice-burner with a fart can? I've seen a shuttle launch from 6 miles away and the noise that thing makes is almost worth witnessing it in person. Here is the best sounding video I've seen with a launch (this is the STS-117 launch that I was at).



I guess I should quit nit-picking The Stick.....sorry - Aries - before I even see it fly. I'm starting to sound like I'm talking about Star Trek XI!