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No, Ares is not replacing the Space Shuttle.
Ares I-X is just the first prototype of a new series of launchers designed to make the second attempt to the Moon, sort of a second Space Race, this time, one that will settled definitive colonies on the surface of our natural satellite, the so called Project Constellation.
Here the video that better explains NASA´s Constellation Program with the two stage Ares I and Ares V rockets (the Crew and Cargo launch vehicles) that will carry separately, the Astronauts in the Crew Exploration Vehicle and the Lunar Lander Module in the Module/EDS Vehicle. Both will dock on Earth´s orbit and will eventually make a Trans-Lunar Injection Burn to reach the Moon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhpIS3NriHs
The Space Shuttle was never intended as a replacement for the previous space program, the Apollo mission with Saturn V rocket booster. It was only the next step in space exploration focused in lifting heavy cargo to the orbiting space stations and precise satellite launching. The Space Shuttle was a cargo Van intended to carry loads to near circling orbits, capable of landing like a conventional aircraft and being a reusable platform that could reduce costs.
The problem with the Space Shuttle was its complexity, it is the most difficult and advance system the human kind has ever assembled. There lays its main problem. With so many systems and back-up systems aimed for safety redundancy, the machine has reached a high level of complexity that has turned the system too prohibitive for the budget, and profits are not worth the effort drained on such an expensive platform.
Despite the high level of technology involved, the Space Shuttle had failed miserably in delivering the safety requirement needed for its mission. The result: two of the most catastrophic accidents in the history of the space age which took the lives of 14 astronauts, accounting for 63% of all the space deads in history.
Besides being unsafe (Russian Soyuz is the safest manned space rocket to date, and its basic design is the same as Ares despite being a 1961 technology), the Shuttle which first flew in 1981 has stretched its service life now finishing the 3rd. decade of use; it also consumes a lot of fuel per mass. The use of the expensive Space Shuttle to ferry Astronauts to the near International Space Station is like the analogy of trying to kill a mosquito with a cannon.
Successful Ares I-X Rocket Test Flight in October 28, 2009 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCamLXgLB68
So, in the end one need to understand that the whole American Space Program which started in 1961, initiated with the Mercury project then it was followed by the Gemini project and ended with the Apollo project which delivered the man to the Moon. Almost all of the remaining 1970´s was wasted waiting for the new launch system which finally arrived in 1981, the Space Shuttle. This a totally different system aimed to lift cargo to the near Earth orbit, not for a trip to the Moon. In this regard Apollo and the Space Shuttle are not related.
Now, almost 30 years after the first Space Shuttle flight, NASA plans to return to the Moon with the Ares project which in turn is not related to the Space Shuttle either. Think of the Shuttle as a technical stop that lasted 30 years for NASA. It seems that they are today planning to set the record straight.
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"The $445 million Ares I-X rocket is a suborbital prototype of NASA's two-stage Ares I booster designed to replace the shuttle fleet by launching astronauts on Orion capsules for trips to orbit and, ultimately, the moon. The rocket concept and NASA's overall human spaceflight plans are in the midst of a major review by President Barack Obama's administration.
"Any time you launch something new there's always the possibility of an accident. This is still rocket engineering," said John Logsdon, a space policy expert and professor emeritus at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Officials with NASA's Constellation program, which oversees the development of the Ares I rockets and Orion spacecraft, said Friday that there's a 1-in-10,000 chance of a potential disaster during the Ares I-X launch attempt. That's well within the safety requirements of a 1-in-1,000 chance of a failure, they said.
Source(s):
http://www.besternews.com/related/MSNBC.com:%20Technology%20&%20Science...
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We watched the launch of the Ares test rocket from our back porch. Congratulations to NASA on this initial success.
Source(s):
Obama Administration Mulls U.S. Human Spaceflight Future, http://www.space.com/news/090903-obama-spaceflight-options.html
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Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| October 31, 2009 06:52 PM |
Ares I-X is just the first prototype of a new series of launchers designed to make the second attempt to the Moon, sort of a second Space Race, this time, one that will settled definitive colonies on the surface of our natural satellite, the so called Project Constellation.
Here the video that better explains NASA´s Constellation Program with the two stage Ares I and Ares V rockets (the Crew and Cargo launch vehicles) that will carry separately, the Astronauts in the Crew Exploration Vehicle and the Lunar Lander Module in the Module/EDS Vehicle. Both will dock on Earth´s orbit and will eventually make a Trans-Lunar Injection Burn to reach the Moon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhpIS3NriHs
The Space Shuttle was never intended as a replacement for the previous space program, the Apollo mission with Saturn V rocket booster. It was only the next step in space exploration focused in lifting heavy cargo to the orbiting space stations and precise satellite launching. The Space Shuttle was a cargo Van intended to carry loads to near circling orbits, capable of landing like a conventional aircraft and being a reusable platform that could reduce costs.
The problem with the Space Shuttle was its complexity, it is the most difficult and advance system the human kind has ever assembled. There lays its main problem. With so many systems and back-up systems aimed for safety redundancy, the machine has reached a high level of complexity that has turned the system too prohibitive for the budget, and profits are not worth the effort drained on such an expensive platform.
Despite the high level of technology involved, the Space Shuttle had failed miserably in delivering the safety requirement needed for its mission. The result: two of the most catastrophic accidents in the history of the space age which took the lives of 14 astronauts, accounting for 63% of all the space deads in history.
Besides being unsafe (Russian Soyuz is the safest manned space rocket to date, and its basic design is the same as Ares despite being a 1961 technology), the Shuttle which first flew in 1981 has stretched its service life now finishing the 3rd. decade of use; it also consumes a lot of fuel per mass. The use of the expensive Space Shuttle to ferry Astronauts to the near International Space Station is like the analogy of trying to kill a mosquito with a cannon.
Successful Ares I-X Rocket Test Flight in October 28, 2009 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCamLXgLB68
So, in the end one need to understand that the whole American Space Program which started in 1961, initiated with the Mercury project then it was followed by the Gemini project and ended with the Apollo project which delivered the man to the Moon. Almost all of the remaining 1970´s was wasted waiting for the new launch system which finally arrived in 1981, the Space Shuttle. This a totally different system aimed to lift cargo to the near Earth orbit, not for a trip to the Moon. In this regard Apollo and the Space Shuttle are not related.
Now, almost 30 years after the first Space Shuttle flight, NASA plans to return to the Moon with the Ares project which in turn is not related to the Space Shuttle either. Think of the Shuttle as a technical stop that lasted 30 years for NASA. It seems that they are today planning to set the record straight.
| Asker's Rating: |
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Other Answers (2)
October 31, 2009 05:03 PM
It is still in the midst of a major review by President Barack Obama's administration. -quote-
"The $445 million Ares I-X rocket is a suborbital prototype of NASA's two-stage Ares I booster designed to replace the shuttle fleet by launching astronauts on Orion capsules for trips to orbit and, ultimately, the moon. The rocket concept and NASA's overall human spaceflight plans are in the midst of a major review by President Barack Obama's administration.
"Any time you launch something new there's always the possibility of an accident. This is still rocket engineering," said John Logsdon, a space policy expert and professor emeritus at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Officials with NASA's Constellation program, which oversees the development of the Ares I rockets and Orion spacecraft, said Friday that there's a 1-in-10,000 chance of a potential disaster during the Ares I-X launch attempt. That's well within the safety requirements of a 1-in-1,000 chance of a failure, they said.
Source(s):
http://www.besternews.com/related/MSNBC.com:%20Technology%20&%20Science...
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October 31, 2009 05:40 PM
Explain the main points for replacing the Space Shuttle with Ares I-X rocket
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November 01, 2009 10:54 PM
I'm not sure whether the plans for the Ares are finalized yet. President Obama is supposed to study the recommendations of his panel and make some decisions about our future in space. We watched the launch of the Ares test rocket from our back porch. Congratulations to NASA on this initial success.
Source(s):
Obama Administration Mulls U.S. Human Spaceflight Future, http://www.space.com/news/090903-obama-spaceflight-options.html
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After the landing on the Moon, NASA looked into a different direction. Having accomplished a big feat, focused on a closer target. Satellite launching and servicing the future Space Stations. The problem was that things got expensive, accidents occurred in between (Challenger and Columbia) and the key project, the Space Station, didn´t start on time.
It was not until the mid-1990´s that a group of nations put a massive budgetary effort to launch the expensive Space Station, 20 years behind schedule and 15 years after the Shuttle was first launched. So, the coordinated schedule between the Space Shuttle and the construction of the International Space Station that it was supposed to serve, was missed.
Space Shuttle began to service and carrying passengers to the Space Station when it was finishing its service life and it became an expensive launching proposition for all.
Now, having failed for the last 40 years trying to implement the Shuttle as a viable platform, NASA is going back with a permanent exploration idea and the installation of a base on the Moon it should have followed in the first place after Apollo.
Ares is a continuation of that doctrine. This time, coming back to the basics of space rocketry technology. Expensive and complicated designs as the Shuttle have proved wrong to NASA, the way of the future for the Space Program are cheap rocket launchers.
That platform was expensive, risky and was intended to put two men on the Moon with just one big launch try, Lunar Lander, Lunar Rover, Service Module, and Command Module, all in the same rocket.
With Ares I and Ares V, they pretend to play on the safe side dividing the whole Moon attempt in two rocket missions to alleviate complexity and risk.