On 11 Nov 2006 21:51:58 -0800, in a place far, far away, "Rusty"
made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such
a way as to indicate that:

NASA Encounters Problems With Ares 1 Launch Vehicle Design

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1171

".....have reported that the current design is underpowered to the tune
of a metric ton or more......"

".....Ares 1 would not be able to put the present Orion spacecraft
design (Crew Exploration Vehicle) into the orbit NASA desires......"

".....One possible solution to the Stick's current design problems is
to add side-mounted solid rocket motors....."


Also....


According to discussions on Nasaspaceflight.com the Ares 1 is in
trouble:
--The CEV will have to use its Service Module engine as a 3rd stage.
The CEV service module will have to add 1000fps to achieve orbital
velocity on a mission to the ISS.
--The Ares 1 payload weight is down to 22 m-tons.
--There may be problems with the Ares 1 wobbling at liftoff and
striking objects (umbilical
tower) near the pad in high winds.

I'm shocked, shocked...

Max Hunter always used to say there was a reason that aspect ratios of
rockets didn't exceed a certain value. Though using the SM as a third
stage is not necessarily a bad idea. NASA never really traded that
(or at least, never allowed the CEV contractors to--they always
provided a delta V for the vehicle in the SRD).