At NASA exhibit, what
goes up must… well… go up
By Frederick A. Johnsen
NASA Public Affairs
It takes a lot of crane
to lift a three-and-a-half-ton space shuttle main engine up from its
trailer, and the laws of physics must be understood to tip up even a
scale model of the planned Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) rocket
combination. Rising about 24 feet over the ramp in front of the NASA
building, the Ares I stack is only 1/15 the size of the envisioned real
thing. That real thing is still in the early stages of its development.
As NASA looks ahead to
the retirement of the space shuttle fleet around 2010, the agency needs
a new capability to reach out into space. The proven ability to dock in
space gives NASA the confidence to premise the next lunar human mission
on a two-phase set-up. The Ares I CLV is expected to put a new Crew
Exploration Vehicle (CEV) into Earth orbit where the CEV will link up
with other components launched by the bigger Ares V before making a
trans-lunar journey. The Ares I is expected to heft the first CEV into
Earth orbit early next decade as the vision for space exploration moves
ahead.
Visitors to the NASA
exhibit at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh can see a scale version of Ares I, and
a full-size concept of the CEV, along with NASA staffers who are happy
to explain the acronyms.
Meanwhile, reusable
rocket engines like the massive space shuttle powerplant in front of the
NASA building continue to boost shuttles into Earth orbit. Modular
pieces for the International Space Station (ISS) get a lift inside a
space shuttle each time one of the fleet of three shuttles roars forth
from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
As EAA increasingly embraces the realm of
spaceflight, NASA’s contribution to AirVenture this year lifts the
curtain on the next generation of space exploration beyond Earth orbit
while also showcasing the ongoing mission of the space shuttles.
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Todd Cannon,
outreach coordinator for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center,
inspects a NASA Crew Launch Vehicle that is only 1/15 the size
the real thing is expected to be. Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen |
Fourteen feet long
and 7,000 pounds heavy, a space shuttle main engine arrived at
EAA AirVenture’s NASA exhibit yesterday. Photo by Frederick A.
Johnsen |
