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Search - 2006 Complete Guide to NASA's New Moon Program, Post-Shuttle Spacecraft and Launchers, Crew Exploration Vehicle, New Heavy Rockets, Lunar Landing Plans, Mars Missions (DVD-ROM)
2006 Complete Guide to NASA's New Moon Program Post-Shuttle Spacecraft and Launchers Crew Exploration Vehicle New Heavy Rockets Lunar Landing Plans Mars Missions - DVD-ROM Author:World Spaceflight News Completely updated and revised, our unique electronic book on DVD-ROM has an amazing collection of the finest NASA documents and resources on every aspect of America’s new moon program. The “exploration architecture” was unveiled by NASA Administrator Dr. Michael Griffin on September 19, 2005 with graphics and animations depicting the new Crew E... more »xploration Vehicle and heavy-lift rockets that will take Americans back to the moon to stay, and on to Mars. This disc includes QuickTime computer video files of the CEV and rocket animation, along with high-resolution images. NASA's new spaceship is the key to making the Vision for Space Exploration a reality. The Vision, announced by President Bush in January 2004, will extend humanity's presence across the solar system, starting with a return to the moon by the end of the next decade, followed by journeys to Mars and beyond. The centerpiece of this system is a new spacecraft designed to carry four astronauts to and from the moon, support up to six crewmembers on future missions to Mars, and deliver crew and supplies to the International Space Station. The new crew vehicle will be shaped like an Apollo capsule, but it will be three times larger, allowing four astronauts to travel to the moon at a time. The new spacecraft has solar panels to provide power, and both the capsule and the lunar lander use liquid methane in their engines. Why methane? NASA is thinking ahead, planning for a day when future astronauts can convert Martian atmospheric resources into methane fuel. After the craft parachutes to dry land (with a splashdown as a backup option), NASA can easily recover it, replace the heat shield and launch it again. Coupled with the new lunar lander, the system sends twice as many astronauts to the surface as Apollo, and they can stay longer, with the initial missions lasting four to seven days. And while Apollo was limited to landings along the moon's equator, the new ship carries enough propellant to land anywhere on the moon's surface. Once a lunar outpost is established, crews could remain on the lunar surface for up to six months. The spacecraft can also operate without a crew in lunar orbit, eliminating the need for one astronaut to stay behind while others explore the surface. The launch system that will get the crew off the ground builds on powerful, reliable shuttle propulsion elements. Astronauts will launch on a rocket made up of a single shuttle solid rocket booster, with a second stage powered by a shuttle main engine. A second, heavy-lift system uses a pair of longer solid rocket boosters and five shuttle main engines to put up to 125 metric tons in orbit -- about one and a half times the weight of a shuttle orbiter. This versatile system will be used to carry cargo and to put the components needed to go to the moon and Mars into orbit. The heavy-lift rocket can be modified to carry crew as well. These launch systems are 10 times safer than the shuttle because of an escape rocket on top of the capsule that can quickly blast the crew away if launch problems develop. There's also little chance of damage from launch vehicle debris, since the capsule sits on top of the rocket. In just five years, the new ship will begin to ferry crew and supplies to the International Space Station. Plans call for as many as six trips to the outpost a year. In the meantime, robotic missions will lay the groundwork for lunar exploration. In 2018, humans will return to the moon. There are NASA technical documents related to human planetary missions, Bush White House material on the plans, Congressional hearing testimony, and the full Aldridge commission report with background material on the public hearings held by the commission. NASA material on the planning for human missions to the Moon and Mars includes: * Office of Exploration Systems (OExS) – Program Overview, Project Constellation, Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), Charts and Viewgraphs, Concept Exploration and Refinement * JS« less
