The Next Giant Leap

As the nation commemorates a milestone anniversary of one of humankind’s greatest accomplishments, NASA is actively preparing to return humans to the surface of the moon and beyond.

The similarities between the Apollo and Constellation Programs are not coincidental. Much has been learned from the Apollo-Soyuz, Skylab, Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) Programs. Coupled with advances in technology, NASA plans to improve upon the way it was previously accomplished.

“It is very exciting that America is embarking on our next significant era of human space exploration,” said Anne Martt, USA Vice President and Constellation Program Manager. “Returning to the moon as a stepping stone to venturing further into space is an excellent progression that both draws on our past experience and challenges us to even greater achievements.”

The Apollo Program used the Saturn V, the Command/Service Module (CSM) and the Lunar Module (LM) for trips to the moon. Constellation will use the Ares I, Ares V, the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and the Altair Lunar Lander.

During the Apollo Program, the giant Saturn V was used to send astronauts and LMs to the moon. Standing 363 feet tall, the huge size and payload capacity of the Saturn V dwarfed all previous rockets. When fully fueled, the Saturn V weighed 6,699,000 pounds with a payload capacity of 260,000 pounds to low Earth orbit and 100,000 pounds to the moon.

The Constellation Program will use the Ares I and the Ares V rockets to return humans to the moon.

The Ares I uses a five-segment SRB for its first stage with a newly designed upper stage. It will be 325 feet tall and able to lift 52,000 pounds to ISS and 56,000 pounds to low Earth orbit.

“The Ares I First Stage team has utilized designs and expertise derived from the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Program to reduce risk and accelerate development to support the Constellation Program goals,” said Phil Bryden, USA Director, Ares First Stage Program.

The first stage of the Ares I is a more powerful and reusable SRB. Instead of four solid propellant segments, the Ares I has five, allowing it to produce more thrust and a longer burn time. The upper stage will be propelled by one J-2X engine fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and is derived from the J-2 engine used on the Saturn IB and Saturn V.

The Ares V, a heavy-lift launch vehicle, will use six RS-68 engines fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen mounted below a large core stage derived from the Saturn V and two five-and-a-half-segment Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). The upper stage will use a J-2X engine. Taller than the Saturn V with a height of 381 feet, the Ares V will be able to lift more than 414,000 pounds to low Earth orbit and 157,000 pounds for lunar missions. It will be used to carry the Altair Lunar Lander into low Earth orbit as well as other cargo and components needed to go to the moon and later on to Mars.

During Apollo, the CSM and the LM were carried into orbit atop the Saturn V. The CSM consisted of two segments, the Command Module, which housed the crew and the equipment needed for re-entry and splashdown, and the Service Module, which provided propulsion, electrical power and storage for various consumables required during a mission.

The Command Module was a cone-shaped crew compartment measuring 10 feet 7 inches tall and having a diameter of 12 feet 10 inches across the base. The total CSM weighed 66,800 pounds. When Apollo astronauts went to the moon, two landed on the lunar surface in the LM, while one crewmember remained orbiting overhead in the Command Module, making observations of the moon from 60 miles up.

In Constellation, the Ares I will carry the Orion CEV with crews of six to the ISS and later ferry a crew of four to rendezvous and dock with the Altair Lunar Lander and the upper stage for missions to the moon.

The Orion CEV, to be built by Lockheed Martin, United Space Alliance, Honeywell, Hamilton Sundstrand and Orbital, will build on the best of Apollo and the Space Shuttle but include state-of-the-art technology. With a shape similar to that of the Apollo Command Module, Orion will have 50 percent more volume of habitable space at 316 cubic feet. Although larger in volume than the Apollo CSM, the total Orion CEV will be lighter at about 42,000 pounds to ISS and 48,000 pounds for lunar missions. As projected, Orion will be 16 feet 6 inches in diameter and 10 feet 10 inches in height and will be capable of carrying four to six astronauts.

“Although we can’t change the laws of physics and, thus, the Outer Mold Line of Orion, it is truly a 21st century vehicle,” said Lloyd Gregg, USA’s Orion/CEV Associate Program Manager.

“A comparison often used between Apollo and Orion is on Apollo, one astronaut remained with the Crew Module (CM), while the other two descended to the lunar surface. On Orion, all four astronauts go to the surface, as the Orion CM will be able to operate autonomously as well as detect and affect a rendezvous with a damaged Altair on its own. Structural fabrication is already in work at MAF (Michoud Assembly Facility), and we are very excited to be part of the next great step in human space exploration,” said Gregg.

The LM was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built to transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon’s surface and back.

The LM was designed to carry a crew of two and consisted of two stages, the descent and the ascent stage with a total mass of 35,665 pounds. Initially unpopular because many delays in its development significantly stretched the projected timeline of the Apollo Program, the LM eventually became one of the most reliable components of the Apollo/Saturn system. During the Apollo 13 emergency, the LM greatly exceeded its design requirements.

For the Constellation Program, Altair will be the lunar landing spacecraft. Named for the brightest star in the constellation, Aquila (the Eagle), the name Altair is a tribute to the first Apollo LM that carried Armstrong and Aldrin to the moon. Measuring 32.5 feet and almost three times larger total volume, the new lander is about 60,000 pounds heavier than its predecessor.

Altair is a multirole vehicle capable of landing crews of four astronauts anywhere on the lunar surface and supporting them for missions of up to seven days before returning them to orbit.

In the sortie mode, Altair will be able to place the crew of four astronauts and up to 1,100 pounds of science equipment anywhere on the lunar surface. An airlock will allow the crew to transition from its pressurized habitat to the dusty vacuum of the lunar surface.

In outpost mode, Altair will be able to deliver the four crewmembers to the site of a permanent lunar outpost, where it will be able to stay on the surface for up to 210 days. At the conclusion of the surface mission, the crew will board the Ascent Module for return to the Orion CEV for the return trip to Earth.

“Altair’s enhanced capability over that of Apollo provides significant scientific benefits to the operational mission concept. A global landing site capability, increased number of crewmembers to the surface and extended stay time on the surface, along with increased down mass to the lunar surface, all provide building blocks toward human exploration beyond Earth’s gravity,” said Jeffrey Osterlund, USA’s Constellation Chief Engineer.

Once the astronauts’ lunar mission is complete in the Constellation Program, they will return to the orbiting Orion vehicle using a lunar Ascent Module. The crew will use the Service Module’s main engine to break out of lunar orbit and head to Earth. Orion and its crew will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere using a newly developed thermal protection system, and parachutes will further slow Orion’s descent through the atmosphere.

Orion is targeted to begin carrying humans to the ISS in 2015 and to the moon by 2020.

USA employees in Florida are currently focusing their attention on the first test flight of the new launch vehicle, the Ares I-X, slated for later this year. Ares I–X will be composed of a functional four-segment SRB stage, a fifth segment simulator, an upper-stage simulator, which will be similar in shape and heavier than the actual upper stage, and a simulated Orion CEV and launch abort system. The test flight will be a significant milestone in NASA’s efforts to return to the moon.

“The progress on the Ares I-X flight hardware and ground systems is fantastic,” Martt said. “Ares I-X truly demonstrates a cornerstone of the Constellation Program, the ability to reuse major components of past programs in combination with new components. It is an excellent first achievement on the journey back to the moon.”

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