Ares (rocket)
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Ares was the name of a part of the Constellation program of NASA planned launchers series between 2006 and 2010. Ares should mostly consist of elements on the support system of the space shuttle based. Two models were planned: Ares I , a light carrier in the 25-tonne class for the transport of the manned spacecraft Orion, and Ares V , an unmanned heavy-lift rocket for transporting propulsion stages and spacecraft for manned lunar and Mars missions.
The Constellation program, and with it the development of missiles, was discontinued in 2010 by the Obama administration for financial reasons. The concepts of the Ares IV and Ares V were partially absorbed in the development of the future Space Launch Systems .
Origin of name
The names were announced by NASA on June 30, 2006. In January 2007, NASA announced the concept study of a third rocket, the Ares IV. This uses components from both rockets and is intended to transport people to the moon with just one launch.
The name Ares is borrowed from the name of the Greek god of war Ares , which is associated with Mars . The numbering of the Ares carriers should be based on the former Saturn I and Saturn V rockets of the Apollo moon program. Since the Ares IV uses parts of the two models, their numerals were also used. Previously, the carriers were known under the provisional designation Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicle (SDLV).
Ares I
The Ares I carrier was planned in two stages and would have a payload capacity of around 24.5 tons for a low earth orbit with an orbit inclination of 28.5 ° (orbit of the Hubble telescope) and 22.9 tons for an orbit inclination of 51.6 ° ( Orbit of the ISS ). The planned height was 99 m with a diameter of 3.66 m for the first stage and 5.48 m for the second stage. The Ares-I rocket would initially have been used to launch the Orion spacecraft, but it was also planned to transport other payloads into space later, for example a supply vehicle (see H-2 Transfer Vehicle ).
The first stage was planned as one, from a space shuttle solid rocket expanded by a fifth fuel segment. This segment should be reusable and would have been recovered and prepared for reuse after the parachute landing in the Atlantic. The avionics were based on the Atlas rocket . A special adapter should establish the connection to the high school. The second stage would have burned liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen ("LOX") and would have been powered by a J-2X engine from Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne , the predecessor of which was already used in the upper stage of the Saturn V. It would also contain the lower level steering and response control system in an instrument cluster. Above that would be the payload capsule. At the tip of Ares I was a rescue rocket to pull the space capsule with the astronauts out of the danger area in the event of a false start.
On January 4, 2007, NASA completed an initial system requirements review for the Ares I, which is a critical point in its development. It was confirmed that the design concept of the Ares I meets the program requirements.
On September 10, 2009, the first floor test ignition of the 5-segment booster was successfully carried out on the test site in Promontory, Utah , after a first attempt was aborted on August 25, 2009 twenty seconds before the planned ignition. The reason for the termination was a faulty fuel supply to an APU that provides the energy for the thrust vector control.
A first suborbital test flight ( Ares IX ) with only the first (with only four filled booster segments) and a dummy of the second stage took place on October 28, 2009.
Ares V
The heavy carrier Ares V was initially only intended for unmanned use. According to the original concept, it was supposed to carry around 130 tons of payload into low earth orbit. With a height of 109 m, the carrier would be roughly the same size as the former Saturn V rocket . The central stage of the rocket would have used a tank that is technologically based on the outer tank of the space shuttle , but with an enlarged diameter of around 10 m, as well as five RS-68 engines of the Delta IV for propulsion. In addition, she was to be supported by two five-segment solid fuel boosters of the space shuttle when starting. The upper stage, also known as the Earth Departure Stage (EDS), would have been powered by a J-2X engine. Both the central level and the upper level should have worked with the high-energy fuel combination LOX / LH2. The primary payload should initially be the Altair lunar module .
In June 2008, NASA presented a revised concept for the Ares V: As a result, the carrier should now be about six meters longer and receive a sixth RS-68 engine. With these changes, Ares V could have carried a total of about 71 tons of payload to the moon, or 188 tons in low Earth orbit.
Ares IV
Since January 2007, NASA was considering the Ares IV as another family member, which would have consisted of the central stage of the Ares V and the upper stage of the Ares I and should only be used for lunar orbit missions. With this rocket, both the Orion spacecraft and the Altair lunar module could be launched into direct lunar orbit. In contrast to the Ares I / Ares V scenario, the spaceships would then dock with one another there. In this way it would also be possible to launch a rescue ship in the event of an accident similar to Apollo 13 . The Ares IV was originally just a concept study with no concrete implementation plans. After the completion of the Constellation program by Barack Obama in 2010 was shortly thereafter by the Congress of the United States of decided Parts Ares -concept continue using it. The resulting future carrier system Space Launch System is essentially based on the concept of the Ares IV .
See also
Web links
- NASA: Ares I Factsheet (English, PDF; 1.5 MB)
- NASA: Ares V Factsheet (English, PDF; 4.8 MB)
- NASA: J-2X Factsheet (English, PDF; 3.0 MB)
- NASA: NASA Revives Apollo (English)
proof
- ^ Statement by Charlie Bolden, NASA administrator. (PDF) NASA, February 1, 2010, p. 4 , accessed on February 1, 2010 (English).
- ↑ NASA: Ares: NASA's New Rockets Get Names , June 30, 2006
- ↑ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/aresl/index.html
- ↑ NASA: NASA Completes Review Milestone for Ares I Vehicle
- ↑ Ares IX Launch Blog. NASA, October 28, 2009, accessed July 14, 2011 .
- ↑ David Harris: Study reveals a six RS-68 and 5.5 segment booster for Ares V. nasaspaceflight.com, June 15, 2008, accessed August 21, 2012 .