Ares I
The Ares I was a scheduled U.S. carrier rocket. It was developed specifically for launches of the space ship Orion, and was intended to replace the space shuttle with this together as a manned rocket. In their last scheduled configuration, it was the Ares I able to carry up to 24.5 tonnes in a low Earth orbit. Together with her sister Ares V rocket, she was part of the Constellation program NASA, but which has been set prematurely due to financial constraints.
Technology
The Ares I has two stages. The first stage is a fünfsegmentige, derived from the Space Shuttle solid-fuel rocket booster that would have been produced by Alliant Techsystems. This had a burned as ammonium perchlorates Composite Propellant ( APCP ) designated as a mixture of ammonium perchlorate oxidizer, and aluminum, thereby producing a thrust of about 16 mega- newtons. Once ignited, the solids level can no longer be shut off and would have brought the rocket during its 126 -second burn time in a height of about 50 km. At this height, the first stage would have been separated and a system of five parachutes would have provided a safe splashdown in the Atlantic. There you would have salvaged it and towed back to the launch site where the segments would have been disengaged. When the requirements have allowed it, they would have been sent for reprocessing to the home plant near Brigham City (Utah ) to be reused for a later flight. The transport of such segments is carried by rail.
In the second stage, it is a scaled down version of the External Tank of the Space Shuttle. It is made primarily from an aluminum -lithium alloy and contains two smaller tanks for the fuel, wherein the upper tank before the start of liquid hydrogen (329 m3 at 20 K ), the lower liquid oxygen (108 m3 at 90 K) would have been filled. These substances have the J- 2X engine driven, which the missile would have carried in a low Earth orbit. There, after the end of firing the payload would have been exposed directly or with an individual third stage. The tank should be built by Boeing Michoud Assembly Facility in and transferred by sea to the launch site. The engine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne had been assembled only there.
In the manned configuration, powered by solid propellants rocket apparatus would have been located at the tip of the rocket, which would quickly wegbeschleunigt in case of danger from the rocket the crew capsule.
Starting System
As the only starting place of Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center was provided.
History of development
Initial proposals for a missile which uses a solid rocket first stage and one based on liquid fuels second stage, date back to the year 1995. At that time, Lockheed Martin led on behalf of the Marshall Space Flight Center by a design study on potential future missiles, which have similarities with the present appearance of the Ares I.
Ten years later they began to work on the implementation of such a missile. Originally the missile was developed with a viersegmentigen first stage and a modified Space Shuttle Main Engine as a drive for the second stage. After an initial monitoring results, however, showed that the solid rocket could not provide enough thrust to launch the rocket. We compensated this problem by adding the fifth segment and a weight reduction of the maximum payload. Furthermore, it was decided, for reasons of cost and practicality reasons, the SSME, which alone costs around 55 million dollars and for ignitions during the flight would have to be modified to share information through the J- 2X engine, which only costs about half and again bootable is.
On 4 January 2007, NASA completed the System Requirements Review, a test in which the missile was tested in the conditions of the Constellation program, successfully. At the same time it became known that the second stage of the inter- tank section has been replaced by an intermediate floor, in order to save weight.
The contract for the production of the flight computer was awarded on 12 December 2007 at Boeing.
On 1 February 2010, the project was stopped along with the Constellation program.
Was and planned start
Main article: List of Constellation missions
The first test launch Ares IX on a suborbital flight was scheduled for October 27, 2009 12:00 PM UTC. After several weather-related launch delays succeeded the first flight on 28 October 2009 15:30 UTC. Used was a main rocket with four active and one passive SRB segment, the inactive second stage and payload dummies from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center up to 46 km altitude wore, it accelerated to Mach 4.7, and the staging proven. In the test, the processes of ground control should be refined and basic data are obtained about the functionality of the hardware and software. In particular, realistic data on the systemic problem of SRB resonances should be obtained in the early implementation phase.
Following the deletion
ATK announced in early February 2011 that it, in cooperation with EADS Astrium from the developed as first stage for the canceled Ares I five -segment booster and a modified Astrium EPC of the Ariane 5 as a second stage, a new launcher called Liberty for commercial transport of astronauts wants to develop for NASA. NASA announced that it wants to help the consortium in the development of the rocket.