The SLS concept is not the first attempt by the Americans to resume astronaut flights on their own platform since the Space Shuttle. On January 14, 2004, the Constellation program was announced. It was George W. Bush's idea to bring Americans to the moon a second time between 2015 and 2020. As you can see, NASA failed to implement the idea. Constellation was based on two missiles - one of the heavy class Ares I and one of the super-heavy Ares V, and the lunar module LSAM (Lunar Surface Access Module) was also being developed.
LSAM (Lunar Surface Access Module) - lunar module for Ares V. Computer model
Ares I is a modified solid-propellant booster, borrowed from the old man Space Shuttle, to which an oxygen-hydrogen stage was attached. Above, everything was crowned by the CEV spacecraft, equipped with an emergency rescue system. In fact, the main purpose of Ares I was to deliver cargo and astronauts to low-earth orbit, mainly to the ISS. Much more ambitious was the Ares V "truck", consisting of a central cryogenic unit with modified "shuttle" boosters suspended from the sides. A space warhead with a booster stage and a lunar module LSAM was docked to the upper part. Naturally, such a serious machine was aimed at least at the natural satellite of the Earth, and in the future, at the delivery of the Americans to Mars. NASA had to make a true monster out of Ares V - solid-fuel boosters became the most powerful in the world, and the five SSME or RS-25 cryogenic propulsion engines with a starting thrust of 181 tf were first replaced by five, and later immediately by six RS-68 with a thrust of 295 tf each.
The promising Ares family. Only one rocket went into space …
The "thickness" of the central part of the rocket was also increased - from the initial 8, 4 m to 10, 3 m. In the final, American engineers played a little with an increase in the traction capabilities of the "super-heavy", and the standard tracked carrier of the cosmodrome was not able to take on such a colossus. However, NASA nevertheless solved one problem: Ares V was able to take 180 tons of payload with it into space. Things were not easy for the smaller "brother" Ares I, which the engineers extended to 96 meters, without worrying about the rigidity of the structure. As a result, the lower stage with the working accelerator generated vibrations that could be fatal for the rocket and the crew. In addition, computer simulations in 2009 showed that the wind with a force of only 5-11 m / s would heel the Ares I rocket onto the service tower of the cosmodrome, and this threatens, if not catastrophe, then serious damage to the launch pad from the displaced torch of the first stage engine. Such fundamental miscalculations, of course, could be corrected, but the price exceeded all reasonable limits. In addition, the loss of time for revision generally put an end to the US lunar-Martian mission. One of the employees involved in the project remarked very accurately: “If NASA pushes the program hard enough, the rocket will fly, but it will have to make so many compromises that it will be so expensive and will be created with such a delay that it would be better not flew in general … "Barack Obama in May 2009 created a commission headed by space businessman Norman Augustine, whose tasks included the assessment of the Constellation project and development of further actions. Specialists found out that the budget grew from 27 to 44 billion dollars, which is not enough to keep the project on schedule, and the total spending on space initiatives of George W. Bush until 2025 would have exceeded 230 billion! Norman Augustine, speaking to members of the House of Representatives, reported on the results of the audit: "The current program in its current form cannot be implemented due to the discrepancy between the allocated funding and the chosen methods of implementing the tasks at hand." He specified that in order to launch astronauts outside the Earth orbit, the United States must allocate at least $ 3 billion annually for this project. Augustine also proposed reorienting the entire mission to land on asteroids flying near Earth in the early 2020s, or on Phobos with Deimos. NASA, feeling that the earth is literally burning under the Constellation project, on October 28, 2009 launches the first experimental Ares I-X rocket with a weight-and-weight model of the CEV spacecraft.
Ares I-X a few seconds after the start
The first launch turned out to be the only one - the arguments of the Augustine commission had a greater impact on the authorities than the almost fake launch of a rocket, and in February 2010, Constellation was closed. It turned out that even practical and calculating Americans know how to spend budget resources ineffectively. As a result of a bad experience with the Constellation, Congressmen in July 2010 had the idea to allocate money for two similar projects: the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion MPCV (Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle).
Norman Augustine is the man behind the Constellation project.
What did the Americans expect from the project? Above all, SLS should "open up entirely new possibilities for science and human exploration of space beyond near-Earth orbit, including missions of astronauts-explorers to various regions of the solar system to search for resources, create new technologies and get an answer to the question of our place in the universe." Such an ambitious mission was complemented by the equally significant development of "a safe, affordable, long-term means to go beyond the existing limits and discover by way of research into remote unique areas of outer space." SLS will launch the multipurpose Orion into deep space and a host of scientific equipment. The most interesting thing was that the funds for the SLS were actually allocated only at the initiative of the Senate and against the will of President Obama. On April 15, 2011, he "through force" signed a law setting a ceiling for project financing up to 11.5 billion for a carrier and up to 5.5 billion for a ship.
Orion MPCV (Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle) multipurpose manned spacecraft. Computer model
Senators played an unusual role of engineers and independently determined the future appearance of the American "heavyweight". It is assumed that it will be a rocket with two five-section solid-propellant boosters based, again, on Space Shuttle boosters, and with a giant cryogenic central part with RS-25 engines. The upper stage is also supposed to be cryogenic. The useful mass of the cargo launched into space was limited to 130 tons, which was somewhat more modest than the parameters of the Ares V. Congressmen actually decided to rebuild their Constellation in the hope that this time it would be cheaper. The Economist weekly wrote in this regard: "The peculiarity of this project is that the launch vehicle was first created under the auspices of politicians, not scientists and engineers."
The promising SLS launch vehicle in the Block 1 modification is the brainchild of the US Senate. Computer model
Evil tongues in the United States in connection with the situation with the interference of lawmakers in purely technical issues of space design, aptly renamed SLS to Senate Launch System ("Senate launch system"). Indeed, many decisions were dictated solely by politics. In particular, the program saved thousands of jobs at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, which made DS-25 engines, and at the Michuda, New Orleans, fuel tank plant. Hangars in Michuda generally stood idle after the shuttle program was closed, occasionally working for the needs of Hollywood - episodes of Ender's Game and other fiction were filmed in their gigantic premises. As a result, NASA had no choice but to comply with the law, taking the pretty dusty project Ares V from the shelf and simply re-stick the cover on SLS. Congressmen, together with the space agency, assured everyone that "the project will become the most powerful launch vehicle in the history of mankind, while its design will be easily adaptable to various requirements regarding both manned flights and the launch of various payloads into space."
