Re: Are Ares I and V red herrings or the way to the Moon?

Chris Adams wrote:
Once upon a time, Andrew Swallow <am.swallow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:
Chris Adams wrote:
Once upon a time, Andrew Swallow <am.swallow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:
Two different design of rockets for the same mission appears expensive.
They aren't two different designs for the same mission. First, there
are a number of shared pieces between the designs. Second, the missions
are different.
They were the same mission the last time I looked - going to the moon.
The cargoes were different.

But that isn't the only mission. There's also "take people to ISS",
which Ares I will also be used for.

That is only a back up mission. NASA's plan is to send cargo to the ISS is via Falcon 9 rockets with people travailing in SpaceX's Dragon capsule.
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/news/COTS_selection.html>

Down the road (hopefully), there
will be "take people and cargo to Mars" - multiple Ares V launches
followed by an Ares I launch.

An Ares_V can lift the Orion capsule and people, just put less fuel in the tank. The cost of buying a few extra Ares_Vs will be less that the cost of developing the Ares_I.


And gets to the moon a couple of years earlier and at a lot cheaper price.

If all you want to do is recreate the late 1960s and land a few people
on the Moon and bring them home, that's great. NASA is aiming to build
an actual flexible program; one that can carry people to ISS, land them
on the Moon (eventually with supplies to build a semi-permanent base),
and eventually send them to Mars.

The Moon village and landers will be launched by Ares_V (or Jupiter) rockets. So will the Mars village and Earth Departure Stage.

Using the ISS to test the Orion's docking and rendezvousing abilities is a good idea. This means that Orion can be used as a rescue craft if things go wrong on the ISS. Also the astronauts can be diverted to the International Space Station (ISS) if something goes wrong on Moon or Mars trips.

Andrew Swallow


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