At the recent 24th National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., there were many discussions concerning the development of the Ares I (formerly known as the Crew Launch Vehicle)—the successor to the space shuttle, which is set to be retired in 2010. There are only nine to 11 more shuttle missions planned, with the last scheduled for May 2010 (STS-133, a contingency flight by the Shuttle Endeavour, if needed to transport supplies to the International Space Station).
The first test flight of the Ares I is scheduled for June 2011, with component build and testing beginning next year. The first operational flight is not scheduled to occur until late-2015, more than five years after the last shuttle flight. The unmanned Ares V cargo version of the system is not expected to have its first flight until 2018. Ares I has a payload similar to the shuttle, while Ares V will have more than five times the payload capability. The Ares system is expected to utilize a number of existing shuttle facilities at the Kennedy Space Center, including the large Vehicle Assembly Building. A number of interim systems are being evaluated and tested for fill-in transport capabilities between the shuttle and Ares flights. These include the low-cost SpaceX Falcon system by R&D’s2007 Innovator of the Year Elon Musk.
Some of the suggestions at the Colorado Springs meeting included adding $2 billion in funding to NASA’s budget to accelerate the operational readiness of the Ares to 2013 or even 2012. Another suggestion was to extend the life of the shuttle, with one or two flights per year, until the Ares is ready. Neither of these options is considered likely, due mostly to budgetary constraints on overall federal government spending—just maintaining the existing Ares funding will be difficult enough.
We’ve all grown up with the space shuttle and its prestigious reusable design and operation reminiscent of the science fiction books we read and movies we saw. The Ares, despite its technological capabilities, will not be as dramatic and the return from space will be similar to the parachute-based Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs and the Russian Soyuz. Ares is larger, more technologically current, more cost effective, and likely more reliable. It just won’t be the same and it will be a long time until we even get there.
