Ares I
Function | Human-rated orbital launch vehicle |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Alliant Techsystems (Stage I) Boeing (Stage II) |
Country of origin | United States |
Project cost | at least US$ 6 billion[1] |
Size | |
Height | 94 meters (308 ft) |
Diameter | 5.5 meters (18 ft) |
Stages | 2 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | 25,400 kg (56,000 lb) |
Associated rockets | |
Family | Followed by LOX |
Ares I was the crew launch vehicle that was being developed by NASA as part of the Constellation program.[2] The name "Ares" refers to the Greek deity Ares, who is identified with the Roman god Mars.[3] Ares I was originally known as the "Crew Launch Vehicle" (CLV).[4]
NASA planned to use Ares I to launch Orion, the spacecraft intended for NASA human spaceflight missions after the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011. Ares I was to complement the larger, uncrewed Ares V, which was the cargo launch vehicle for Constellation. NASA selected the Ares designs for their anticipated overall safety, reliability and cost-effectiveness.[5] However, the Constellation program, including Ares I, was cancelled by U.S. president Barack Obama in October 2010 with the passage of his 2010 NASA authorization bill. In September 2011, NASA detailed the Space Launch System as its new vehicle for human exploration beyond Earth's orbit.[6]
Development
Advanced Transportation System Studies
In 1995 Lockheed Martin produced an Advanced Transportation System Studies (ATSS) report for the
Exploration Systems Architecture Study
President George W. Bush had announced the Vision for Space Exploration in January 2004, and NASA under Sean O'Keefe had solicited plans for a Crew Exploration Vehicle from multiple bidders, with the plan for having two competing teams. These plans were discarded by incoming administrator Michael Griffin, and on April 29, 2005, NASA chartered the Exploration Systems Architecture Study to accomplish specific goals:[8]
- determine the "top-level requirements and configurations for crew and cargo launch systems to support the lunar and Mars exploration programs"
- assess the "CEV requirements and plans to enable the CEV to provide crew transport to the ISS"
- "develop a reference lunar exploration architecture concept to support sustained human and robotic lunar exploration operations"
- "identify key technologies required to enable and significantly enhance these reference exploration systems"
A Shuttle-derived launch architecture was selected by NASA for the Ares I. Originally, the crewed vehicle would have used a four-segment solid rocket booster (SRB) for the first stage, and a simplified Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) for the second stage. An uncrewed version was to use a five-segment booster with the same second stage.
The Exploration Systems Architecture Study concluded that the cost and safety of the Ares was superior to that of either of the
Role in Constellation program
Ares I was the crew launch component of the Constellation program. Originally named the "Crew Launch Vehicle" or CLV, the Ares name was chosen from the Greek deity Ares.[4] Unlike the Space Shuttle, where both crew and cargo were launched simultaneously on the same rocket, the plans for Project Constellation outlined having two separate launch vehicles, the Ares I and the Ares V, for crew and cargo, respectively. Having two separate launch vehicles allows for more specialized designs for the crew and heavy cargo launch rockets.[15]
The Ares I rocket was specifically being designed to launch the
Contractor selection
NASA selected Alliant Techsystems, the builder of the
On August 28, 2007, NASA awarded the Ares I Upper Stage manufacturing contract to Boeing. Boeing built the S-IC stage of the Saturn V rocket at Michoud Aerospace Factory in the 1960s. The upper stage of Ares I was to have been built at the same rocket factory (Michoud) used for the Space Shuttle's External Tank and the Saturn V's S-IC first stage.[20][21]
J-2X engines
At approximately US$20–25 million per engine, the Rocketdyne-designed and produced J-2X would have cost less than half as much as the more complex
System requirements review
On January 4, 2007, NASA announced that the Ares I had completed its system requirements review, the first such review completed for any crewed spacecraft design since the Space Shuttle.
Analysis and testing
In January 2008,
A study released in July 2009 by the
The Ares I igniter was an advanced version of the flight-proven igniter used on the Space Shuttle's solid rocket boosters. It was approximately 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and 36 inches (91 cm) long, and took advantage of upgraded insulation materials that had improved thermal properties to protect the igniter's case from the burning solid propellant.[32] NASA successfully completed test firing of the igniter for the Ares I engines on March 10, 2009, at ATK Launch Systems test facilities near Promontory, Utah. The igniter test generated a flame 200 feet (61 meters) in length, and preliminary data showed the igniter performed as planned.[32]
Development of the Ares I propulsion elements continued to make strong progress. On September 10, 2009, the first Ares I development motor (DM-1) was successfully tested in a full-scale, full-duration test firing.[33] This test was followed by two more development motor tests, DM-2 on August 31, 2010, and DM-3 on September 8, 2011. For DM-2 the motor was cooled to a core temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), and for DM-3 it was heated to above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). In addition to other objectives, these two tests validated Ares motor performance at extreme temperatures.[34][35] NASA conducted a successful 500-second test firing of the J-2X rocket engine at John C. Stennis Space Center in November 2011.[36]
The Ares I prototype, Ares I-X, successfully completed a test launch on October 28, 2009.[37][38][39] Launch Pad 39B was damaged more than with a Space Shuttle launch. During descent, one of the three parachutes of the Ares I-X's first stage failed to open, and another opened only partially, causing the booster to splash down harder and suffer structural damage.[40] The launch accomplished all primary test objectives.[40][41]
Schedule and cost
NASA completed the Ares I system requirements review in January 2007.[24] Project design was to have continued through the end of 2009, with development and qualification testing running concurrently through 2012. As of July 2009[update], flight articles were to have begun production towards the end of 2009 for a first launch in June 2011.[42] Since 2006 the first launch of a human was planned for no later than 2014,[43] which is four years after the planned retirement of the Space Shuttle.
Delays in the Ares I development schedule due to budgetary pressures and unforeseen engineering and technical difficulties would have increased the gap between the end of the Space Shuttle program and the first operational flight of Ares I.[44] Because the Constellation program was never allocated the funding originally projected,[45] the total estimated cost to develop the Ares I through 2015 rose from $28 billion in 2006 to more than $40 billion in 2009.[46] The Ares I-X project cost was $445 million.[47]
Originally scheduled for first test flights in 2011, the independent analysis by the Augustine Commission found in late 2009 that due to technical and financial problems Ares I was not likely to have had its first crewed launch until 2017–2019 under the current budget, or late 2016 with an unconstrained budget.[48] The Augustine Commission also stated that Ares I and Orion would have an estimated recurring cost of almost $1 billion per flight.[49] However, later financial analysis in March 2010 showed that the Ares I would have cost $1 billion or more to operate per flight had the Ares I flown just once a year. If the Ares I system were flown multiple times a year the marginal costs could have fallen to as low as $138 million per launch.[1] In March 2010, NASA administrator Charlie Bolden testified to congress that the Ares I would cost $4–4.5 billion a year, and $1.6 billion per flight.[50] The Ares I marginal cost was predicted to have been a fraction of the Shuttle's marginal costs even had it flown multiple times per year. By comparison, the cost of launching three astronauts on a crewed Russian Soyuz is $153 million.[51] Representative Robert Aderholt stated in March 2010 that he had received a letter from NASA which claimed that it would have cost $1.1 billion to fly the Ares I rocket three times a year.[52]
On February 8, 2011, it was reported that Alliant Techsystems and Astrium proposed to use Ares I's first stage with the second stage from the Ariane 5 to form a new rocket named Liberty.[53]
Cancellation
On February 1, 2010, President
Design
Ares I had a payload capability in the 25-tonne (28-short-ton; 25-long-ton) class and was comparable to vehicles such as the Delta IV and the Atlas V.[5] The NASA study group that selected what would become the Ares I rated the vehicle as almost twice as safe as an Atlas or Delta IV-derived design.[58]
First stage
The first stage was to have been a more powerful and reusable
Upper stage
The upper stage, derived from the Shuttle's External Tank (ET) and based on the
Although its J-2X engine was derived from an established design, the upper stage itself would have been wholly new. Originally to have been based on both the internal and external structure of the ET, the original design called for separate fuel and oxidizer tanks, joined by an "intertank" structure, and covered with the spray-on foam insulation to keep venting to a minimum. The only new hardware on the original ET-derived second stage would have been the thrust assembly for the J-2X engine, new fill/drain/vent disconnects for the fuel and oxidizer, and mounting interfaces for the solid-fueled first stage and the Orion spacecraft.
Using a concept going back to the Apollo program, the "intertank" structure was dropped to decrease mass, and in its place, a common bulkhead, similar to that used on both the S-II and S-IVB stages of the Saturn V, would have been used between the tanks. The savings from these changes were used to increase propellant capacity, which was 297,900 pounds (135,100 kg).[63]
See also
- Ares IV, a proposed heavy-lift variant of Ares I and V combined.
- DIRECT, shuttle-derived launcher proposed as alternative to Ares I and Ares V.
- Liberty (rocket), a proposed medium-lift rocket like the Ares I, a SDLV using an SRB-derivative first stage
- Omega, ATK's proposed new rocket based on SDLV SRB-derived first and second stages and Aerojet RocketdyneRL10 third stage
- List of Constellation missions
- Boilerplate (spaceflight)
References
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External links