"Until the end of the next decade, NASA astronauts will once again explore the lunar surface," - so said in an official statement from the US space agency.
This time they are going there to stay for a long time. It is planned to build a lunar base, master a satellite and ensure subsequent travel to Mars and beyond.
New NASA manned or cargo spacecraft with a lunar landing module
The device can be manned or automatic cargo (depicted with a lunar landing module).
Concept by designer John Frassanito and his team. It is assumed that flights to the Moon will begin in the near future, using a new launch vehicle. Developers will take the best from Saturn V, Appolo, Space Shuttle and 21st century technology. It is supposed to create a system that is cheap enough, reliable and versatile. The centerpiece of this system is a new spacecraft designed to deliver four astronauts to the Moon or Mars, with the option of expanding to six crew members to the ISS or delivering cargo to the ISS. Initially, it is supposed to use the modular principle in the launch vehicle and the ship. The apparatus (capsule) will be in the shape of an Apollo capsule, but it will be three times larger in size.
A new ship can be reused up to 10 times. After landing on land (splashdown is provided as a backup option) NASA easily repairs minor damage (replacement of the heat shield, parachutes, UPS and other) in order to start it up again. Together with the new lunar lander, the system can send twice as many astronauts to the lunar surface, and they can also stay there longer (mission duration from 4 to 7 days). An important difference between the new ship and Appolo, which was limited to landings only along the lunar equator, is that the ship carries enough fuel to land anywhere on the lunar surface.
Most relevant future landing sites
When the lunar base is built, the crew will be able to stay on the lunar surface for six months. At the same time, the spacecraft will operate without a crew in lunar orbit, eliminating the Appolo problem (where one astronaut was forced to remain in orbit in the reentry module when other researchers landed on the lunar surface).
Safe and reliable launch of the system into orbit will be provided by the powerful and reliable launch vehicle Ares I, which in turn is also modular and can use up to five solid-propellant boosters.
The newest J-2X rocket engine (liquid oxygen / liquid hydrogen) comes from the J-2 rocket engine
It will be used for the spacecraft to gain second space speed. Ares I can lift more than 25,000 kg of payload into low-earth orbit.
Comparative sizes of the launch vehicle with previous systems:
At the same time, Ares V, a heavy launch vehicle, will be produced, which uses (at the first stage) five RS-68 rocket engines (liquid oxygen / liquid hydrogen). The first stage is based on an enlarged (in length) external fuel tank of the Space Shuttle system and two five-segment solid-propellant boosters.
The upper stage will use the same J-2X engine as the Ares I. The Ares V can lift more than 130,000 kg into low-earth orbit and has an altitude of about 110 meters. This versatile system will be used to transport cargo and components into orbit, with subsequent delivery to the Moon and then to Mars. It can be used both for a cargo launch vehicle and for launching crew delivery. The most important parameter to which attention is drawn is that the launch of the system should be 10 times safer than in the previous launch vehicles and the Shuttle. Especially in the area of the start-near-earth orbit.
Plans.
It is assumed that in five years, the new spacecraft will begin ferrying the crew and cargo to the International Space Station. The number of starts is at least six per year.
During this time, automatic missions will lay the foundation for exploring the moon.
In 2018, humans will return to the moon.
Here's how the mission will unfold:
- heavy launch vehicles will launch the lunar lander into low-earth orbit:
- the crew will start on a separate launch vehicle with an inhabited capsule.
-docking takes place in orbit, and after three days the spacecraft reaches the Moon
-the four astronauts move into the lander, leaving the capsule in orbit.
-then the spacecraft starts from the Moon to the capsule in orbit in the part of the descent vehicle, docks with it, moves into it and returns back to the Earth. After deorbiting and before the start of aerodynamic braking, the service module is dropped, exposing the heat shield to external influences. The parachutes open, the heat shield is shot back, and after landing, the capsule lands on land.
At least two lunar missions a year are envisioned, which will allow the rapid construction of a permanent outpost on the Moon. The crews will stay longer at the lunar station and learn to use the resources of the moon, while the descent vehicles will deliver the necessary cargo. After all, the new system involves rotating crews at the lunar base every six months.
The US is already looking hopefully at the lunar South Pole as a candidate for the first station, as it is believed to have the presence of hydrogen in the form of water ice, as well as an abundance of sunlight that can be used to generate electricity.
Now things are like this:
1) On July 16, 2007, NASA officially announced a $ 1.2 billion contract with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) "to design, develop, test and evaluate the J-2X engine", as well as to build a new engine test bench J-2X at Stennis Space Center on August 23, 2007
2) Since 2011, the finished J-2X engine is undergoing hot firing tests.
June 2011: first fire tests
November 2011: test run 499, 97 seconds
June 2012: test run for 1150 seconds, during which the J-2X was started, then stopped and then restarted
July 2012: test run at 1350 seconds (22 ½ minutes)
3) The first unmanned flight with the J-2X rocket engine is scheduled for 2014.
4) On 28 August 2007, NASA commissioned the production of the upper (second) stage of Ares I Boeing
5) On March 10, 2009, NASA successfully completed test launches for the Ares I solid propellant engine at ATK Launch near Cape, Utah.
Proving that there is no gas leakage (there were problems at preliminary launches in 2008)
6) On September 10, 2009, the first solid propellant (Stage) Ares I (SD-1) was successfully tested in full scale with full test duration.
7) DM-2 tested on August 31, 2010 and DM-3 tested on September 8, 2011.
8) The bill signed by Barack Obama provides for a $ 19 billion budget for NASA in 2011.
9) Orion - multipurpose manned vehicle (MPCV)
-2008 year test mock-up test for emergency flight interruption, by the end of 2011 - 6 more.
-NASA performs Orion climatic tests from 2007 to 2011 at the Glenn Research Center
-driving the layout (18,000 f) from July 2011 to January 6, 2012
-dumping the layout by parachute from the S-130 in 2008, 2009, 2011 (several unsuccessful)
-first flight tests (EFT-1) are scheduled for early 2014 on the DELTA IV Heavy rocket
The manned flight to MARS is supposed to be carried out according to the same principle as the lunar expeditions:
