Новости программы Constellation

[Александр Хороших]

Bush sets out tiny 2.9 percent rise in space budget

    President George W. Bush Monday set out a modest 2.9 percent rise in funding for the US space agency, just as NASA is racing to finish the International Space Station in 2010.
    The funds were contained in Bush's proposed 3.1 trillion dollar budget for the fiscal year 2009, which earmarked a total 17.61 billion dollars for National Aeronautics and Space Administration projects in the coming year.
    That compares to the US space agency's 17.11 billion dollar budget for the year to September 2008, and adjusted for inflation, which is running at 4.1 percent, it represents a net cut in funds.
    NASA, which is due to mark its 50th anniversary on October 1, 2008, expressed confidence the new allocation would not severely affect efforts to finish the ISS.
    "The FY 2009 budget does not make any strategic changes in direction for our human spaceflight efforts to complete assembly of the International Space Station before embarking on new journeys to our moon and worlds beyond with our international partners," NASA deputy administrator Shana Dale told reporters.
    The 2009 budget includes 2.1 billion dollars for ISS construction operations and 3.0 billion dollars for running the fleet of three space shuttles, which have a tight schedule of missions to help complete ISS construction before they are retired, slated for October 1, 2010.
    In the budget NASA has also asked Congress for three billion dollars for the Orion Crew Exploration project and its Ares launch system, aimed at putting Americans back on the Moon in 2020 to set up a permanent lunar outpost for eventually supporting manned missions to Mars.
    NASA is also budgeting 2.6 billion dollars to contract space services from others, especially Russia, in the 2010-2014 interim when the shuttle fleet has been retired and the Orion program is being readied.
    But overall space operations are seeing budget cuts, to 5.77 billion in 2009 from 6.73 billion in 2008.
    The budget allocates just 4.41 billion dollars for research and scientific missions in 2009, compared with 5.5 billion in 2008.
    That includes a 105 million dollar budget for a program of robot missions to the moon, and 1.3 billion for continued exploration of Mars and other planets in the solar system.
    But NASA said that some of the apparent cuts reflected a regrouping of budget funds into different categories in 2009.
С http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Bush_sets_out_tiny_2.9_percent_rise_in_space_budget_999.html

[Алексей Шевченко]

          Собственно, это не такая уж новость...http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/content/numbers/289/08/shtml

[Александр Хороших]

С http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Boeing_Courts_Ares_I_Suppliers_To_Provide_NASA_With_Best_Value_999.html

Boeing Courts Ares I Suppliers To Provide NASA With Best Value

     Boeing has hosted an aerospace industry conference in Huntsville, Ala., to recruit the nation's best suppliers for the Ares I Instrument Unit Avionics (IUA) contract. As prime contractor, Boeing will produce, deliver and install avionics systems for the Ares I rocket. The system consists of onboard computers, flight controls, communications equipment, and other instruments and software for monitoring and adjusting the rocket's speed and position during flight.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville is leading the overall design effort.
     The Ares I Industry Day conference drew more than 140 suppliers of all sizes and started the process of finding the best suppliers for NASA.
     "We promised NASA we would encourage early supplier involvement while using competition to provide the best IUA solutions. That means giving NASA the opportunity to benefit from Boeing's buying power and expertise," said Dwight Potter, Boeing Ares I IUA program manager.
     Boeing is looking to attract suppliers for items such as avionics components, wire harnesses and ground support equipment.
     "Suppliers are an integral part of our Ares I program team, and our success depends on their participation and performance," Potter said.
     Boeing provided attending suppliers with information about the Ares I avionics requirements and outlined plans to issue requests for information and proposals.
     "We plan to distribute information requests in February with some preliminary NASA specifications to solicit initial comments and innovative ideas from industry. We can then work with NASA to finalize the requirements, eventually leading to draft and final requests for proposals (RFPs) in the coming months," said Ray Robin, Boeing Exploration Launch Systems supplier management.
     "We hope by including suppliers fully in the process, they will better understand our needs and provide us with innovative solutions. Following the RFPs, we'll go through the source-selection process later this year."
     Boeing also targeted small businesses during the Industry Day event, recognizing the considerable benefits that small businesses offer.
     "On the Ares program, we are focused on exceeding our small business goals and want to help small businesses develop the infrastructure needed to take on larger, more  complex projects," said Robin.
     Boeing operates one of the world's largest, most diverse global supplier networks in support of its space, commercial and defense programs. Through its supplier network, Boeing can ensure NASA benefits from the latest technologies while improving quality, cost and delivery schedules.

[Александр Хороших]

Ага, NASA объявляют набор в космонавты, простите - в астронавты для программы Constellation. Им представится шанс слетать к МКС или даже на Луну.
Подробно освещены аспекты отбора космонавтов... Как всегда - ЧИВО - ЧИтать Всем и Обязательно.
http://www.moondaily.com/reports/NASA_Recruiting_Volunteers_For_Out_Of_This_World_Jobs_999.html

NASA Recruiting Volunteers For Out Of This World Jobs

     Only 12 human beings have set foot on the moon. You could be the thirteenth ... if you make the cut. NASA's current recruiting effort for a new class of astronaut candidates specifies that the International Space Station and the return to the moon are part of the agency's goals, and this class will be the first to be trained to achieve them.
     Interested?
     This new focus is different according to Jeff Ashby, NASA liaison to U.S. Air Force Space Command. Mr. Ashby is also a former astronaut with three space flights under his belt.
     "There were classes in the past that did the first space flights. Others did the first trips to the moon. My class built the International Space Station," he said. "This class will be the first one to go back to the moon for renewed exploration, and they will begin to build the permanent site, the lunar base."
     Competition is stiff though.
     "You have to ask yourself, who are the most important people to pick for these return missions to the moon," Mr. Ashby said. He believes medical doctors, engineers and those with a lot of aircraft test experience would be the most desirable candidates. "And anyone who has more than one of those, in my mind, is highly competitive," Mr. Ashby said.
     NASA usually gets around 3 or 4,000 applicants for each new astronaut candidate class. Of these, the board interviews about 120. Once the interviews are complete NASA chooses between 10 and 20 people for the class.
     The training lasts 18 months. At the end of the training, the fledgling astronauts are given a job at NASA in line with their skills. It could be robotics, design of the next space vehicles, or working on space medicine issues.
     "At this point, they are doing astronaut training 25 percent of the time and working on their technical job for the other 75 percent," Mr. Ashby said.
     Space flight does not immediately follow the training either. "The bad news for this class," Mr. Ashby said, "is that it is going to be seven to ten years before they get to fly in space. The good news is that when they do get to fly, it is either going to be a six-month mission to the International Space Station or it is going to be a two- or three-week mission to the moon. This is very significant," he added.
     Why the moon? The simple answer is that it will allow humans to get to Mars. The long version is that human exploration of space and expansion off this planet could be a benefit to the species.
     Michael D. Griffin, NASA administrator said in a December 2007 address to the Royal Astronomical Society that he agrees with Stephen Hawking and other distinguished scientists who have pointed out a basic truth: "The history of life on Earth is the history of extinction events, and human expansion into the solar system is, in the end, fundamentally about the survival of the species."
     The U.S. Congress gave teeth to the concept of off planet movement in the 2005 Authorization Act for NASA. "The Administrator shall establish a program to develop a sustained human presence on the moon, including a robust precursor program, to promote exploration, science, commerce and United States preeminence in space, and as a stepping-stone to future exploration of Mars and other destinations."
     These astronauts, continuing the tradition of the earliest space explorers, will lead the way for the proposed ultimate movement of humans to other planets as explorers and colonists. However, it is a stepping-stone process and those lessons learned on the ISS, and those to be learned from staying on a lunar base will provide the knowledge to get this nation to Mars.
     Getting to the moon is not just an American initiative. According to Mr. Ashby, there are currently 16 nations involved in operating the ISS, a total of 11 languages spoken, and this will serve as the model for NASA's efforts to return people to the moon. Lessons learned from the cultural, political and technical aspects of running the ISS will roll over to the movement to the moon. In an independent effort, China is also engaged in a lunar exploration program that may include landing humans on the moon sometime after 2015.
     The class of astronauts to be chosen may be able to fly to the moon more than once in their careers as astronauts. "I would guess that over a ten- to fifteen-year career, they will have one or two and maybe as many as three opportunities to fly in space," Mr. Ashby said.
     At the end of a NASA career, the majority of military astronauts retire from their respective service. The one exception to this is the Air Force.
     "Several notable astronauts have come back into service with the Air Force, and they provide great value when they come back," Mr. Ashby stated. Two notable returnees are Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, commander, U.S. Strategic Command and former AFSPC commander, and Brig. Gen. Susan J. Helms, commander, 45th Space Wing at Patrick AFB, Fla.
     The Air Force has been in the space business since the beginning. According to a recent article in the journal of the Air Force Association, there have been more than 80 Air Force astronauts who have participated in the Mercury and succeeding Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, space shuttle, and International Space Station missions.
     The space program has made amazing progress in the last 50 years, and the Air Force astronaut corps has played a key role in that evolution. In the beginning, Lt. Col. Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, one of the seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA in April 1959, piloted the "Liberty Bell 7" spacecraft on a flight that lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds. Today, General Helms has logged 5,064 hours in space flight. In the future, Air Force volunteers may have the opportunity to spend months at a time on orbit and possibly go back to the moon ... and beyond.

[Александр Хороших]

С http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts122/080207griffin/
     NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, in an interview with CBS News today, said he remains optimistic the agency can complete the international space station and retire the shuttle as planned by the end of fiscal 2010 despite recent delays to recover from hail damage and problems with critical fuel sensors.
...
     Griffin also said recent questions about high vibration levels in the Ares 1 rocket NASA is building to carry astronauts into low-Earth orbit for eventual flights to the moon will be successfully resolved, saying claims to the contrary are unfounded.

[anovikov]

А если это и не получится, будет только лучше - тогда перейдут к использованию Ares IV, что будет куда как разумней, и летать на Луну со стыковкой на окололунной орбите, вокруг Луны с выходом на орбиту - по однопусковой схеме, а на околоземную для обслуживания МКС - без боковух.

[Александр Хороших]

А если это и не получится, будет только лучше - тогда перейдут к использованию Ares IV, что будет куда как разумней, и летать на Луну со стыковкой на окололунной орбите

Эхх, про Ares-IV, каюсь, не читал, но по вашим словам могу предположить, что это будет что-то вроде двупуска, как у Чертока? Т. е. запускается два Ares-а - один с "Орионом", другой с "Альтаиром", каждый корапь по отдельности запускается на орбиту Луны ступенью EDS. Так? Но это дорого получается - требуется целых две сверхтяжёлых ракеты...

а на околоземную для обслуживания МКС - без боковух.

Ну, это уже извращение, ИМХО. Суммарная масса первой, второй ступени и ПГ ("Орион") - 1345 т. (НК №1, 2006 г.), тяга одного RS-68 - 295 тс, тогда тяговооружённость ракеты на старте получается 1,1. Никто такую ракету делать не станет. Правда, что-то мне подсказывается, что такой водородный носитель, не смотря на низкую тяговооружённость первой ступени, может вывести на орбиту поболее, чем 25 т. Тогда можно, дросселируя RS-68 (можно, в принципе, попробовать разместить на Ares-V не 5, а 6 двигателей  ) и уменьшив массу первой и второй ступени за счёт меньшей заправки компонентов, увеличить стартовую тяговооружённость... Но смысл? ИМХО, не надо пытаться делать эту операцию через ж..., пытаясь создать из сверхтяжёлого тяжелый носитель (обратное как раз возможно и даже, ИМХО, желательно; да взять хотя бы тот же "Сатурн-5"!), благо есть "Дельта-4 Хэви", её можно легко проапгрейдить до 30-40 т. на ЛЕО, а при желании - вплоть до 85.

[Александр Хороших]

С http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q1/080215a_nr.html

Boeing, Other Ares I Upper Stage Contractors Sign Associates Agreement

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 15, 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has signed an associate contractor's agreement (ACA) with five other aerospace companies to work together on the Ares I upper stage. The agreement will save NASA time and resources by ensuring its contractors work together seamlessly.

The ACA was formed with those companies that have key contracts with Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala., on the Ares I upper stage. Participating companies include Aerojet, Boeing, Hamilton Sundstrand, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Moog Inc., and Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc.

"The Ares I upper stage associates are being proactive and using the resources of our respective companies to resolve technical issues before they become problems for NASA," said Jim Chilton, Boeing vice president and program manager of Exploration Launch Systems.

Roger Campbell, Ares I upper stage program integration manager for Boeing, added, "NASA has encouraged us to use this approach to work together, transition complementary activities and resolve issues ourselves wherever possible." Boeing uses a similar approach on the International Space Station program.

Each company performs a wide variety of work for NASA. Aerojet has an advanced development contract for the first stage roll control system, which helps control the rocket during first stage flight. Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX), has an advanced development contract on the turbine pump assembly for the thrust vector control (TVC) system, which steers the upper stage engine. Under an engineering services contract, Jacobs is providing design support for MSFC. Moog Inc. has several advanced technology development contracts with NASA, including a prevalve for the main propulsion system and actuators and controllers for the TVC system. Teledyne Brown Engineering, under its support contract, is helping NASA with manufacturing process development of the Ares I-X test vehicle, including its roll control system, and other engineering support and test-related tasks.

The ACA can be expanded to include other companies and will continue as long as it remains beneficial to NASA and the associates.

Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that will carry the Orion crew exploration vehicle to low-Earth orbit. This rocket will succeed the space shuttle as NASA's primary vehicle for human exploration in the next decade. Boeing will produce the upper stage and avionics for the new rocket.

[Александр Хороших]

Ого! С http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/02/27/221870/nasa-adds-power-and-height-to-ares-v-rocket.html отдельные цитаты:

NASA adds power and height to Ares V rocket

       NASA's Ares V cargo launch vehicle (CLV), named after its five first-stage cryogenic powerplants, could have six engines, be taller than the Apollo programme's Saturn V and diminish the space agency's common element approach to its new transportation system.
       The ongoing changes to the CLV are to provide more performance margin to help with possible future mass growth in the US space agency's Altair and Orion, according to NASA's exploration launch project office's advanced planning manager and former Apollo programme rocket engineer John "Phil" Sumrall.
       "The [core stage] engines' arrangement could be one in the centre with the other five around the periphery or two in the centre and the other four around them. We would have to manifold the exhaust ducts. We haven't decided how many exit nozzles six engines could have," says Sumrall, admitting that Ares V could have fewer than five nozzle cones.
Немного не понял про exhaust ducts. Это выхлопные патрубки? Т. е. они не определились с их количеством?..

[anovikov]

Ну вот, накаркал

Как видим, схема Ares IV становится все более и более "живой".
Можно даже предложить такой вариант - для полетов к Луне - "новый" центральный блок Ares V, 2 обычных 4-сегментных SRB, и верхняя ступень, по двухпусковой схеме со стыковкой на окололунной орбите.
Для полетов на LEO - просто центральный блок и все, довывод - ДУ самого "Ориона".

[Александр Хороших]

[Александр Хороших]

С http://www.aviationweek.com

NASA Nears Lunar Lander Decisions

       An in-house NASA design team that is sketching out a rough concept for the planned Altair lunar lander will soon be joined by some early industry partners to help with a "minimum functional" design that will be the starting point for an actual lander.
       To get to a working vehicle, NASA already knows it needs to trim about three metric tons from its concept, with propulsion systems the biggest opportunity for weight-saving.
       The Constellation Program at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston issued a broad area announcement in January for industry participation in setting that starting point, and received more than 30 responses, according to Clint Dorris, deputy Altair project manager. Contracts of no more than $350,000, for a total of no more than $1.5 million, will be issued by the middle of March.
       The idea is to develop an early lander concept that meets the basic requirements of a seven-day stay on the lunar surface with a crew of four, and that can be grown into a lander that can go anywhere on the lunar surface. Once the single-string concept vehicle is set, the project plans to buy redundancy and functionality with hardware add-ons while still meeting the 45 metric-ton weight limit.
       A full-scale system requirements review is anticipated in 2009, and in 2009-11 the project hopes to do some testbed work that will build confidence in technologies. Dorris says the biggest opportunity for improvement lies in propellant mass, and the propulsion system itself - the first- and second-heaviest vehicle elements, respectively.
       Early concepts see most of the vehicle taken up with the descent stage, which will get the crew down safely and accommodate them on the surface for a week. The ascent stage is tiny, with a habitable volume of only nine or 10 cubic meters. "It's not much larger than required to hold the avionics and four people standing up," Dorris says. "That's where you start taking [weight] penalty - getting too large on that vehicle."
       Currently the ascent module is allocated 5,075 kilograms (11,200 pounds), while the descent module weighs in at 32,718 kilograms (72,130 pounds). A separate airlock module that will stay behind on the moon and eventually be shared with future habitation modules in a lunar outpost is budgeted at 949 kilograms (2,090 pounds), leaving 3,401 kilograms (7,500 pounds) for payload and a 2,857-kilogram (6,300-pound) project manager's reserve.
       The descent module will be powered by a derivative of the RL-10 rocket that can be deeply throttled for landing control. The ascent module uses a 5,500-pound thrust hypergolic engine, and docks with the Altair using the Low Impact Docking System under development at JSC.
Судя по цифрам, проект не сильно изменился - тот же водород, та же масса (на 100с лишним кг. больше)...

[anovikov]

А когда будет база и следовательно производство топлива на месте, видимо схема изменится? Наверное тогда можно будет использовать одноступенчатый многоразовый взлетно-посадочный модуль и какую-то легкую штуковину типа Dragon от SpaceX на ракете грузоподъемностью 40-50 тонн для перелета?

[Александр Хороших]

[Александр Хороших]

Смотрим все: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/orion-fta.html
Не мог не опубликовать вот эту фоту:

[Marlin]

NASA Awards Contracts For Design Study Of Lunar Landing Craft

Altair lunar lander concept.
by Staff Writers
Houston TX (SPX) Mar 20, 2008
NASA's Constellation Program has selected five space-related companies to receive contract awards for a 210-day study to independently evaluate NASA's in-house design concept for a lunar lander that will deliver four astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2020.
The awards total approximately $1.5 million, with a maximum individual award of $350,000. The study recommendations will be used to increase the technical maturity of the existing design in preparation for the development of vehicle requirements.

The Constellation Program is building NASA's next generation fleet of spacecraft -- including the Ares I and Ares V rockets, the Orion crew capsule and the Altair lunar lander -- to send humans beyond low Earth orbit and back to the moon. NASA plans to establish a human outpost on the moon through a successive series of lunar missions.

"These studies will provide valuable input for developing a sound set of requirements for the Altair lunar lander," said Jeff Hanley, the Constellation Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Industry collaboration will provide insight for our planning and early design efforts for the spacecraft."

The selected companies are Andrews Space of Seattle, The Boeing Co. of Houston, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company of Denver, Northrop Grumman Corporation of El Segundo, Calif., and Odyssey Space Research of Houston.

The companies will evaluate the current in-house design, propose safety improvements and recommend industry-government partnering arrangements.

The Constellation Program is based at Johnson and manages the Altair Project for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Washington.

Community

[Hagoromo]

" 07.04.2008 / 15:17 Если новым президентом США будет избран Барак Обама, Луне и Марсу придется подождать лишних пять лет

Если на ноябрьских выборах президентом США будет избран демократ Барак Обама, то реализация планов возобновления полетов на Луну и организации миссии на Марс задержится, как минимум, на 5 лет. Такой вывод можно сделать, ознакомившись с предвыборной платформой Обамы. Сэкономленные на космических программах деньги будут направлены в сферу образования.
Вместе с тем, Обама не намерен урезать финансирование программы разработки новой ракеты-носителя Ares и корабля Orion. По его мнению, эти проекты являются жизненно важными для Америки, так как позволят сохранить постоянное присутствие США в космосе."

[Алексей Шевченко]

А ссылка на источник этой  информации почему-то отсутствует.

[Hagoromo]

http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/content/news.shtml Это отсюда

[Karen]

Было обсуждение об этом на форуме Новостей-космонавтики в конце 2007 г. Это был часть своей политики образования. Когда я слышала это, конечно, была обеспокоена. Однако кажется с более недавной информацией что Обама смягчил свою позицию об этом вопросе. В начале он говорил о пяти-летним отсрочке в развитии Ориона/Ареса. Повидимому он узнал что это не хорошую идею для космической державы--не иметь прямой доступ к космосу на пяти лет больше уже планированого отсутствия. [url][http://www.spacepolitics.com/2008/01/02/obama-clarifies-his-space-policy//url]. Для меня проблема в том что космический полёт определённо не приоритета для него. МкКейн и Клинтон оба, кажется, понимают этот вопрос лучше его.