Constellation program

On January 14, 2004, in his State of the Union address , US President George W. Bush proclaimed a vision of US space exploration. This instruction to NASA became known as the Constellation Program and envisaged that humans should return to the moon by 2020 and eventually travel to Mars and more distant destinations.

Based on the results of the Augustine Commission in 2009, the administration of US President Obama stopped supporting the program.

The Constellation Program

The Orion spaceship approaching the ISS (computer graphics)

The Orion spaceship with the docked moon landing module (computer graphics)

Earth Departure Stage with lander and Orion spaceship (computer graphics)

Comparison of the carrier systems (from left to right): Saturn V , Space Shuttle , Ares I , Ares V

In his speech, US President Bush indicated the steps NASA should take to achieve the vision of a return to the moon. The completion of the ISS by 2010 and the decommissioning of the space shuttles is the first step shown. This enables further financial resources to be tied up for the project. To carry out the mission, a crew exploration vehicle (CEV ) is to be available by 2008 and a manned mission is to be carried out by 2014 at the latest. The last step includes landing on the moon by 2020. This requires robotic missions to explore suitable landing sites and a heavy-duty launcher. The distant target is the manned flight to Mars. The implementation of the goals was recorded in the NASA Authorization Act 2005.

The objectives of the program

NASA's strategy for exploring space includes the following topics that should be met with the Constellation program:

• Preparing humans for a flight to Mars and beyond
• Answering scientific questions about the solar system and the universe
• Constant human presence on the moon, which leads to eventual colonization
• Expansion of the earth's economic sphere to the moon

Various technologies that are similar to the Apollo program are required to carry out this project .

Program elements

The Constellation program consists of 5 essential elements:

• The Ares I rocket for transporting the Orion transport spacecraft into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
• The transport spaceship Orion (formerly CEV) for the transport of astronauts to the ISS or to the moon with the Earth Departure Stage.
• The Ares V as a heavy-duty transporter for the transport of the Earth Departure Stage and the Altair lunar module to the LEO.
• The Earth Departure Stage as a carrier system for a flight to the moon, with the transport spaceship Orion and the lunar module Altair.
• The Altair Lunar Module for landing on the moon and establishing a base.

vision

On September 28, 2007 NASA announced that it would carry out the first manned Mars mission in 2037.

The era since US President Obama

After taking office in 2009, US President Barack Obama initiated a review of US manned spaceflight under the direction of Norman Augustine. The committee came to the conclusion that the Constellation program could not be financed with Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. Furthermore, the financing from FY 2009 and the planned FY 2010 was below the original assumptions made at the start of the project, so that Ares I and Orion were and are underfunded for these years. Furthermore, the extension of the shuttle missions by 1 year until 2011, as well as a possible extension of the ISS mission until 2020 were not included in the original planning. This leads to a delayed commissioning of Ares I and Orion, from 2017 at the earliest, which should serve as shuttle successors from 2012.

Due to the late publication of the report of the commission regarding the US-FY (beginning of October), the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2010 was passed in December, which deletes the Constellation program and initiates another similar program of NASA in FY 2010 ( 10/2009 - 09/2010) and provides for a new law to be passed on this issue (reflection period for the Congress).

In February 2010, US President Obama announced the cancellation of the Constellation program, which caused astonishment in Congress and some hearings. Obama's plan was to strengthen the commercial sector and develop new space exploration technologies beyond the L1 . The following April, US President Obama announced plans for astronauts to land on an asteroid by 2025. These goals were set in October in the NASA Authorization Act 2010, which also includes the development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle and the parallel development (in addition to the commercial developments for the LEO) of a people-transport system.

After no draft law regarding the termination or continuation of the Constellation program was passed in FY 2010 (ends 09/2010), the Consolidated Appropriations Act is still valid, and thus also the Constellation program.

In January 2011, NASA submitted a report to Congress, which provides a proposal for the fulfillment of tasks with regard to the NASA Authorization Act 2010. Due to the new concept, the Orion spaceship remains under the name Orion MPCV and is planned in a revised form. It will also be launched into orbit or beyond Earth by a new launch vehicle called the Space Launch System , similar to the Ares V and Saturn V. The SLS also includes the solid fuel rockets from the space shuttle program . In May 2011, NASA announced the continuation of the Orion CEV as the Orion MPCV, as suggested in the report to Congress.

See also

• The list of Constellation missions contains all missions that were once planned or carried out.
• Manned moon flight to Apollo
• Manned flight to Mars
• Lunar colonization
• Mars colonization

Web links

Commons : Constellation program  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Raumfahrer.net: Constellation program (German)
• A Visual History of NASA's Project Constellation (English)
• NASA: Constellation Program (English)
• NASA Constellation Program Cost and Schedule Will Remain Uncertain Until a Sound Business Case Is Established. (PDF, 590 kB) United States Government Accountability Office, August 2009, accessed April 7, 2011 . 
• David Williams, Tom Schatz: NASA's Constellation Program - Fly or not to Fly. (PDF, 1.5 MB) Citizen Against Government Waste, February 2010, p. 10 , accessed on April 15, 2011 (English). 
• NASA's Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS) - Final Report. (PDF, 25.1 MB) NASA , November 2005, accessed on April 16, 2011 (English). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} President Bush Announces New Vision for Space Exploration Program. The White House, February 14, 2004, accessed April 7, 2011 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Marcia S. Smith: NASA's Project Constellation and the Future of Human Spaceflight. (PDF, 28 kB) SpacePolicyOnline.com, February 23, 2011, accessed on April 3, 2011 . 
3. ^ Statement by Charlie Bolden, NASA administrator. (PDF) NASA, February 1, 2010, p. 4 , accessed on February 1, 2010 (English). 
4. ^ NASA Authorization Act 2005 - Public Law 109–155. (PDF, 290 kB) 109th Congress, December 30, 2005, accessed on April 7, 2011 . 
5. ^ John F. Connolly: Constellation Program Overview (presentation). (PDF, 6.1 MB) Constellation Program Office, October 2006, accessed on April 15, 2011 (English). 
6. ↑ Lunar Architecture ( English , PDF, 74 kB) NASA. 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2007.
7. ↑ Diane Hawkins-Cox: NASA wants permanent moon base ( English ) CNN. 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2007.
8. ↑ First person should be on Mars by 2037 , Welt online
9. ^ Review of US Human Spaceflight Plans Committee - Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation. (PDF, 8.0 MB) (No longer available online.) US Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, October 22, 2009, archived from the original on January 21, 2011 ; accessed on April 3, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ^ Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 - Public Law 111–117. (PDF, 1.1 MB) US Government, December 16, 2009, accessed April 3, 2011 . 
11. ↑ NASA Authorization Act, 2010- Public Law 111-267. (PDF, 261 kB) US Government, October 11, 2010, accessed April 3, 2011 . 
12. ^ Preliminary Report - Regarding NASA's Space Launch System and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. (PDF, 293 kB) NASA , January 2011, accessed on April 4, 2011 (English). 
13. ↑ Release: 11-164 - NASA Announces Key Decision For Next Deep Space Transportation System. NASA , May 24, 2011, accessed June 4, 2011 . 
14. ↑ Tilmann Althaus: Orion is dead - long live Orion. AstroNews, May 30, 2011, accessed June 4, 2011 .