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The Ares V (formerly known as the Cargo Launch Vehicle or CaLV) is the planned cargo launch component of the Constellation program, which would replace the Space Shuttle after its retirement in 2010. Ares V and the smaller Ares I are named after Ares, the Greek god of war, which is the equivalent to the Roman god Mars. Initially, the Ares V would launch the Earth Departure Stage and Altair lunar lander when NASA returns to the Moon, which is currently planned for 2019, but would also serve as the principal launcher for missions beyond the Earth-Moon system, including the program's ultimate goal, a manned mission to Mars after 2030.[3] The unmanned Ares V would complement the smaller, and human-rated Ares I rocket for the launching of the 4-6 person Orion spacecraft. Both rockets, deemed safer than the current Space Shuttle, would utilize technologies developed for Project Apollo, the Shuttle, and the Delta IV EELV programs.[4] On February 1, 2010, President Barack Obama announced a proposal to cancel the Constellation program effective with the U.S. 2011 fiscal year budget,[5][6][7][8] subject to congressional approval. Development Early concepts In the 1997 book The Case for Mars, Robert Zubrin discussed a possible future heavy launch vehicle named Ares.[9] In the book the rocket would have consisted of the Space Shuttle's External Tank powered by four SSMEs and a second stage powered by an RL-10 engine. One notable difference in the Zubrin et al. design is the mounting location of the SSMEs, which were side-mounted on a small flyback craft. This design was meant to allow the Ares to fly using existing Space Shuttle infrastructure. Constellation Ares V will be the cargo launch component of the Constellation program. Unlike the Saturn V and Space Shuttle, where the crew and cargo were launched together on the same rocket, Project Constellation is planned to use two separate launch vehicles, the Ares I and the Ares V, for crew and cargo respectively. This allows the two launch vehicles to be optimized for their respective missions. Constellation therefore combines the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous used by Apollo with the Earth Orbit Rendezvous mode proposed by Dr. Wernher von Braun (along with the "Direct Ascent" proposal) during the early planning stage of Apollo. Development of the rocket and its Earth departure stage will be led by the Marshall Space Flight Center. The Ames Research Center is responsible for the Ares V integrated health management system supports in developing its payload shroud. Glenn Research Center leads the development of the lunar lander ascent stage as well as Ares V power system, thrust vector control system and payload shroud. Langley Research Center has a lead role on Ares V aerodynamics.[10] The Augustine Commission concluded that "Under the FY 2010 funding profile, the Committee estimates that Ares V will not be available until the late 2020s".[11] Even if NASA had been given the $3 billion dollar increase and the ISS had been retired in 2015, than the committee still believed the Ares V would not be ready till the mid-2020s.[12] On February 1, 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a proposal to cancel the Constellation program effective with the U.S. 2011 fiscal year budget.[8] This cancellation will require congressional approval. Further roles Although the Ares V is a medium to long term project, NASA is planning to deploy its lift capability in a range of projects,[13] along the lines of the former Apollo Applications Program. One proposal is to build an 8 to 16-meter Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope[14] to be placed in the Sun/Earth L2 point. It would be a significant increase in dimension and performance over the Hubble Space Telescope and the Ares V vehicle will be able to carry this to its destination in a single shot. Future Ares V missions could also serve as a cost-effective, mass transport of construction materials for future spacecraft and missions,[15] delivering raw materials for example to a Moon dock positioned as a counterweight to a Moon elevator. As of May 2010 NASA has planned flight demonstrations of Ares V hardware along with Ares I hardware after the scheduled upcoming Ares I-X Prime test of the Ares I 5-segment SRB first stage. Several flights listed as "Heavy Lift" test flights are scheduled to test the first stage of the Ares V simultaneously with the Ares I upper stage attached on top of the Ares V first stage. This would save both time and money in avoiding the gap between testing Ares I and Ares V hardware with current limited funding.[16] Design The Ares V is being designed as a heavy-launch vehicle to send large hardware and materials to the Moon or send supplies beyond Earth orbit to sustain human presence there.[2] The Ares V is a three-stage rocket: the first and second stages, which burn together, utilize both solid and liquid propulsion with the upper stage providing the necessary propulsion to send the hardware and staples beyond low-Earth orbit and onto a trajectory to the Moon. Ares V is currently under heavy preliminary design review after the results of the 2009 Augustine Commission.[17] What is consistent in the design is that, like the Space Shuttle, will utilize a pair of solid-fueled first stage rocket boosters that will burn simultaneously with the liquid-fueled second (core) stage. The solid rocket booster on Ares V will be an improved version of the current Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster, but with five or five and a half segments instead of the current four segments.[2][18][19] The liquid-fueled second stage is derived from the Space Shuttle External Tank, and will use either five or six RS-68B engines attached to the bottom of a new 10 m tank, or five SSMEs attached to the bottom of a stretched version of the Space Shuttle's 8.4 m tank.[20] In either configuration, it will be fueled by liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2). The upper stage, derived from the S-IVB upper stage used on the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets, is known as the Earth Departure Stage (EDS). Powered by the Apollo-derived J-2X rocket engine, which will also be used on the liquid-fueled upper stage of the Ares I booster, the EDS will be used to steer the Altair lunar lander into its initial low-Earth "parking" orbit for later retrieval by the Orion spacecraft, and then will propel both the Altair and Orion to the Moon.[2] The EDS can also be used to haul large payloads into low-Earth orbit, along with placing large unmanned spacecraft onto trajectories beyond the Earth-Moon system. The Ares V is to have a payload capacity of over 414,000 lb (188 metric tons) to Low Earth orbit (LEO), and 157,000 lb (71 metric tons) to the Moon.[2] Upon completion the Ares V would be the most powerful rocket ever built, lifting more into orbit than even the American Saturn V, the failed Soviet N-1 for the canceled Soviet Moonshot, and the successful Soviet/Russian Energia booster developed for the Buran Shuttle.[21] Besides its lunar role,[2] it can also support a manned Orion expedition to a Near-Earth asteroid, and could boost an 8 to 16-meter successor of the Hubble Space Telescope to the Sun-Earth L2 point. Derivatives Ares V Lite Ares V Lite is an alternative launch vehicle for NASA's Constellation program. Ares V Lite is scaled down Ares V.[22][23] It would use five RS-68 engines and two five-segment SRBs and have a low Earth orbit payload of approximately 140 metric tons (309,000 lb).[24] If chosen, Ares V Lite would replace the Ares V and Ares I launchers. One Ares V Lite version would be a cargo lifter like Ares V and the second version would carry astronauts in the Orion spacecraft.[24] See also * Ares IV
1. ^ HSF Final Report: Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation, October 2009, Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, p. 65-66.
* NASA Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle page
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