The "Stick" is on the pad (or in the bottle?)

A few nights ago NASA rolled out the future of manned space flight for the United States. Personally, I'm still not convinced this is the right path, kind of a step sideways and backwards rather than a jump forward from the shuttle. Sure, saving money and using shuttle booster parts is a good idea, but....?
"The Stick" as it's been nicknamed by some, is about 30 feet short of the height of the Saturn V, but it just looks like a very tall bottle rocket. Sure, can't judge a ship by it's looks (look at the Apollo LM!), but this one does still have it's problems. The problem with the vibration is one that was fixed by adding counterweights to absorb vibration. Adding weight to a rocket does that make any sense?
Download the Press Kit below, there is a lot of good information about the flight, and plenty of diagrams for you visual types - like myself.
Anyway, it's test flight is top priority in a few days, so we'll see if the stick flies when the fuse is lit!

| Mission updates |

| Press kit (3.2 meg pdf) |