Something old,
something new, on the way to Mars
By Frederick A. Johnsen
NASA Public Affairs
 |
|
Steve Cook, NASA’s
Ares Project manager |
With the enthusiasm of a
scoutmaster and the credentials of a rocket scientist, Steve Cook,
project manager for NASA’s massive Ares I and Ares V space booster
rockets, eagerly laid out NASA’s plan to send humans to Mars and
return them safely. At an EAA Oshkosh AirVenture 2006 Forum
presentation, Cook described NASA’s response to the president’s
vision for space exploration, articulated in 2004.
A Crew Exploration
Vehicle (CEV) space capsule, looking a lot like an enlarged Apollo
capsule, will ride into Earth orbit atop a rocket christened Ares I.
Meanwhile, the rest of 550 tons of cargo needed to complete a rocket
capable of going to Mars will be hefted into Earth orbit by the massive
Ares V. Once mated over the Earth, the combination will head for Mars on
a six-month journey that will be the ultimate reality show for the
astronauts involved, Cook commented. To give the explorers more
elbowroom on the long trip, NASA may come up with an inflatable crew
quarters section.
The Ares I rocket will
stand 321 feet tall; Ares V stretches to 358 feet, and the classic
Apollo Saturn V stood 364 feet above ground. The Ares rockets will use
the same Vehicle Assembly Building built for Apollo and converted for
the space shuttles at Kennedy Space Center. The heritage trail goes on,
as Ares will launch from Pad 39-B, another famed Apollo landmark later
adapted for space shuttles. And this reunion of super-heroes continues,
as outsize sections of the first test Ares rocket will be ferried aboard
NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft, modified in the 1960s with a bulbous
fuselage to carry pieces of the Saturn V.
Ares I will use a
lengthened version of the shuttle’s current solid rocket booster motor
as its first stage that will fall away when spent and lowered by
parachute into the Atlantic Ocean where it can be retrieved for re-use.
Unlike the shuttle, the booster will be flying faster—Mach 6—when
its separation from the rest of Ares I occurs. Cook said this makes it
imperative to impart a tumble to the booster casing, or it will overheat
on one side from friction as it falls back toward the sea. The second
stage of Ares I will be a derivative of a Saturn V rocket motor, now
called J-2X.
Ares V will be another
beneficiary of space shuttle technology, strapping on two of the solid
rocket boosters originally developed for the shuttle. For the Ares
project, the solid rocket propellant will be shaped differently inside
the rocket tube to obtain optimum combustion characteristics for the
Ares missions, Cook explained. Ares V will also incorporate the largest
liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen rocket stage ever created, he said.
With only 33 months until
the first test Ares I planned launch date—not long in rocket
development terms—Cook says the emphasis is on using proven, robust
components. In a few cases, that has even involved reverse-engineering
Apollo-era rocket valves when original drawings could not be located.
"This is about rebuilding our capability industrially," Cook
told his EAA audience. He reminded the crowd that the Ares-CEV
combination represents only the second American effort to create a
vehicle capable of leaving low Earth orbit; the other was Apollo.
While Mars is a goal, the
moon is considered a vital steppingstone, Cook said. Back when Apollo’s
three-person crews went to the moon, only two could reach the lunar
surface, with the third remaining in lunar orbit for their return. In
the future, the CEV promises to take four astronauts to the moon, with
all of them landing there. The moon will enable explorers to test the
capability to remain on another planetary body for weeks at a time, says
Cook. Scientists already look forward to an increased ability to land
anywhere on the moon, unlike the limited Apollo capability. One benefit
could be to place telescopes on the dark side of the moon, peering
deeper into space.
Steve Cook has a tall
order to fill. After Ares I proves itself in 2009, it is supposed to
heft the CEV by 2014, if not sooner, with humans returning to the moon
by 2020. The goal is to extend human presence across the solar system
and beyond. This will be accomplished with a coordinated use of human
and robotic missions. And men and women like NASA’s Steve Cook will
make it happen.
Because they really are rocket
scientists.
