Testing of the Ares I Continues
With the Ares I built on cutting-edge technologies for the crew launch component of Project Constellation, it is the next generation of astronaut transportation to and from the International Space Station. With NASA hard at work developing hardware and systems for the new system, it is also built on the evolved Apollo and space shuttle propulsion elements. The head of the developmental theme is safety, reliability, and cost-effectiveness for missions to the moon, onto Mars, and into the Solar System. On the other hand, Ares V will be for a cargo launch vehicle, allowing for more of a specialized design for the purpose of transporting cargo, instead of everything at once.
An in-line, two-stage rocket configuration specifically designed to launch the Orion Crew Vehicle with the Ares I combined with the Orion crew vehicle and its launch abort system. NASA and the United Space Alliance engineers and technicians, at the developmental team at the Kennedy Space Center, are testing procedures as we speak in order to handle and load the propellant tanks, used on the roll control system of the Ares I.
The latest procedures that were tested brought together air Force missile program component, invented with previous support equipment for handling space shuttle parts. With the first launching of Ares I to be in April of 2009, it consists of a flight that is not involved with the transportation of four to six astronauts involved in the future, but only to evaluate the rocket performance during the first flight stage.
The Ares I is also a 25,000-ton payload capacity that allows resource deliveries and supplies to the International Space Station. It can be used to park payloads in orbit, to be retrieved by other spacecraft headed for other destinations. The first-stage booster will power the Ares I vehicle toward low Earth orbit during mid-flight. Meanwhile, the reusable booster separates and the upper stage’s J-2X engine will ignite. At this time, the vehicle will be put into a circular orbit.
A 323-foot high pencil shaped rocket, it will use a five-segment solid rocket booster for its first stage, with the upper stage liquid-fueled. The Orion spacecraft will top the Ares I, lofting astronauts to the ISS, will later missions calling for the rocket to take the Orion capsules to the first leg of the moon trip. Presently, the latest round of flight testing will involve preparing the rockets to transport the astronauts safely.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 1:12 am and is filed under Space Agency News, The Gear to Get There. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
