The new spaceship will be 10 times safer than the shuttle because it will have an escape rocket on top of the capsule that will easily allow the crew to be taken out in case problems develop during takeoff. There is also less chance of damage from falling debris during launch since the capsule will be placed on top of the rocket.
Avi Blizovsky
NASA has announced that it will invest more than 100 billion dollars in a program to re-place a man on the moon by 2018. Today, the agency officially announced the spacecraft that will replace the shuttle and fly to the moon.
Before the end of the next decade, NASA astronauts will explore the surface of the moon again. This time they will stay there, build an outpost and pave the way for future missions to Mars and beyond. Although we see here the echoes of the past, NASA promises that it is not an exact recreation of the Apollo flights but something else, although some of the components of that time will be used.
The journey will soon begin with the development of a new spacecraft built on the best technologies of both Apollo and the shuttle. NASA is creating the space exploration system that will be cheap, reliable, versatile and safe.
At the center of this system is a new spacecraft design that will carry four astronauts to and from the Moon, support six crew members on future missions to Mars, and transport people and supplies to the International Space Station. The new vehicle will look like the Apollo capsule, but will be three times larger, and this will allow four astronauts at any time to move from Earth to the Moon.
The new spacecraft, unlike Apollo, will have solar collectors, in addition, both the capsule and the lunar lander will use engines running on liquid methane. Why methane? NASA is thinking ahead, to the day when the astronauts will use the resources of Mars for the production of liquid methane.
The new ship can fly ten times. After it lands on solid ground (when landing at sea is an alternative), NASA can easily return it to the assembly facility, remove the heat shields, replace them and launch again.
Together with the new lunar lander, the new system will allow twice the number of Apollo astronauts to be dropped and they will be able to stay for a longer time when the first mission is planned to last 4-7 days. The new spacecraft will carry enough fuel to be able to land anywhere on the lunar surface.
After the establishment of the lunar outpost, the astronauts will be able to stay on the surface for periods of up to six months (does it remind you of the space station?). The spacecraft will also be able to function without a crew in orbit around the moon, and thus an astronaut will not be required to stay behind while his companions explore the surface.
Reliability and safety
The new launch system will allow the crew to be put into space using the powerful and reliable drive systems that put the space shuttles up. The astronauts will be launched using a rocket in the first stage powered by solid fuel, and a second stage that will be based on the shuttle's main engine.
In order to raise heavy cargo into space, a similar system will be built - a rocket that will contain a pair of boosters powered by solid fuel and five shuttle engines. The capacity of this rocket will make it possible to lift 125 tons into space - one and a half times the weight of the shuttle. The multi-purpose system will also be used to carry cargo and put into orbit around the Earth the components needed for missions to the Moon and Mars. The heavy launcher could also be adapted to carry crew members.
And most importantly, say NASA, the new spaceship will be 10 times safer than the shuttle because it will have an escape rocket on the top of the capsule that will easily allow the crew to be taken out in case problems develop during takeoff. There is also less chance of damage from falling debris during launch since the capsule will be placed on top of the rocket.
the course of the flight
A heavy rocket will take off, carrying the lunar lander and the exit stage necessary to leave Earth orbit (1). The crew will be launched separately (2), and the capsule will dock with the lander and with the departure stage. This unified spacecraft will move towards the moon (3). Three days later, the crew will reach lunar orbit (4). After landing and exploring the surface for seven days, the team will take off again in a part of the shuttle (5), connect to the capsule and return to Earth. After the re-entry burn phase, the service module will be jettisoned and exposed to the heat shield for the first time since the start of the mission. The parachute will open, the heat shield will disappear and the capsule will land on dry ground (6).
to the universe
At a minimal rate of two lunar missions per year, the momentum will allow the establishment of a permanent colony quite quickly. The crews will be able to stay for longer periods and learn how to exploit the lunar resources while new landers bring them supplies in one direction. Eventually, the new system will be able to switch crews to and from the lunar outpost every six months.
The planners are already looking at the south pole area of the moon as a candidate for the establishment of such a base due to the high concentration of hydrogen whose presumed origin is in water ice, as well as the abundance of sunlight that will be used to generate electricity.
These programs provide NASA with a big advance towards reaching Mars. Because we will already have a system for lifting heavy loads, which is required to get there, a multi-purpose capsule for launching humans, and propulsion systems that can use the resources of Mars.
A lunar outpost will be located three days' flight from Earth, and thus it will allow training for extraterrestrial life, before the longer journey to Mars.
More detailed step-by-step pictures of the manned flight to the moon in the new vehicle
The knowledge of man and space
For information on the NASA website
Poster of the new spacecraft on the moon and astronauts around it
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