NASA's Constellation Program

During the Cold War the race was on to put a man on the moon, and leading the charge in the Space Race was the Apollo Program from NASA with its long rockets and cone shaped spacecraft. The reusable Space Shuttle program came along to replace the Apollo rockets, but with the retiring of the Shuttles coming in 2010 a new approach is needed; enter the Constellation Program.

A look at NASA's Constellation Program

There were many scientists that thought we were making a mistake as a people to be focused on reaching the Moon. Put a man on the moon, they said, and the people will feel like we Won the Race and have no interest in exploring space beyond the local neighbourhood. In a way these scientists were proven correct as budgets dipped and the emphasis was placed on baby steps into space. There are plenty of projects that do reach as far as they can, however, and with the new Constellation Program from NASA, mankind is combining the romance of visiting the moon with long reaching efforts to explore further and more thoroughly than ever before.

Old is New Again

The new program is using a number of elements from the Apollo program, including rocket boosters and crew capsules. The look may be very retro, but the materials are state of the art. New technologies will be used to make the crafts bigger, safer, and more capable. There are a number of parts to the Constellation Program that are under construction now or will be in the near future, all of which have a few major goals; get man to the moon once again, continue the interface with the International Space Station, and get man to Mars.

The Stars in the Constellation Program

There are three major elements in the Constellation Program; the Orion Crew Vehicle, the Ares Launch Vehicles and the Altair Lunar Lander. The Ares Launch Vehicles include the Ares I and the Ares V, named after the Geek god associated with Mars. The Ares I rocket will be able to carry over fifty thousand pounds of cargo and will be topped with the Orion Crew Vehicle, while the Ares V can carry more than two hundred thousand pounds and will be used for crew, cargo and vehicles.

The Orion Crew Vehicle borrows its shape from the old Apollo crew vehicles, but is much larger and can carry up to six crew members. It will be used to reach the International Space Station as well as rendezvous with the Altair Lunar Lander.

The Altair Lunar Lander will be much like the old Lunar Landing Module, but naturally brought up to date with state of the art technology. It will be designed to land on the moon and supply life support and living quarters for the astronauts for week long exploration missions before returning them to the Orion Crew Vehicle.

Final Thoughts

The construction on various stages of the Constellation Program are already underway. The first launch and mission will be to take astronauts to the International Space Station by no later than 2015, followed by landing on the moon no later than 2020.

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