NASA is preparing a decisive test flight for the end of the month.
The Ares I-X launcher (concept art). Credit: NASA
NASA is to launch Ares I-X on 27 October 2009. This rocket will be used for testing and validating the technologies that will then be used for the Agency’s future manned launch vehicle: Ares I.
Two launchers for multiples missions The American agency has designed an architecture for taking astronauts to the Moon, based on two launch vehicles: Ares I and Ares V. Ares I is to be the carrier rocket for the future Orion capsule, the very same capsule that will accommodate the crews. America is, therefore, going to turn its back on the space shuttle’s space plane formula; this type of orbital transportation having been deemed too costly and having safety defects (NASA lost two space shuttles, Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003, and the 7 astronauts on board perished on both occasions). Ares V is described as the unmanned “heavy-weight” launch vehicle which will take whatever is needed for a mission to our natural satellite up into space; that is the lunar module atop a rocket stage responsible for propelling said module and the Orion capsule to the Moon. The video below summarises the main steps of this scenario.
The two Ares give NASA a modularity, it would not have from a single heavy launch vehicle. Consequently, for a mission to the International Space Station, Ares I alone would be sufficient as it is capable of placing the Orion spaceship in a docking orbit with the ISS. Ares V could, also, be used on its own for unmanned flights to dispatch, for instance, giant space telescopes or particularly ambitious solar system exploration probes (which involves significant weight at lift-off). The American Space Agency has also, on more than one occasion, stressed the fact that the Ares I and Ares V couple would be able to take on other challenges such as the transportation of astronauts to certain asteroids passing close to the Earth.
Ares I (left) and Ares V (right): the two launch vehicles from NASA’s Constellation programme which are to provide the space infrastructure necessary for returning to the Moon as well as being used for other types of missions. Credit: NASA
An unpopular launch vehicle However, this architecture dubbed Constellation is far from winning unanimous support. The first double launch vehicle to undergo an advance development phase, Ares I is subjected to numerous, often vicious criticisms as it is alternately accused by some of not having sufficient power or quite simply of representing a danger to the astronauts! The critics, above all, condemn its first stage, based on the space shuttle’s solid rocket boosters, which they believe will vibrate to such an extent during lift-off that the second stage and the Orion capsule run the risk of being seriously damaged. Proceeding step by step, NASA has, therefore, planned the Ares I-X flight, scheduled on 27 October 2009. In the American Space Agency’s vocabulary, the “X” indicates that we are dealing with a test flight: X for eXperimental. Furthermore, Ares I-X only comprises 4 booster segments for its first stage as opposed to the 5 of Ares I. In addition, the second stage and the capsule are dummies and the launcher will not place anything in orbit. But criticism continues to mount, as Ares I-X will be so far from the final Ares I that the engineers will not be able to deduce anything useful... NASA, however, is of the opinion that this flight is essential as it will be used for testing the overall behaviour of its future launch vehicle at Mach 4.7, more than four times the speed of sound.
Diagram of Ares I-X A: first stage - solid rocket booster (4 segments) B: dummy second stage C: dummy capsule Credit: NASA
But it is not just a technical debate. Since, during the hearings held this summer by the committee of experts instructed by the White House to examine the future of America’s human space flights (see this article), those who maligned Ares I the most, were also those who put forward their own, supposedly better, architecture. And, if Ares I is set aside, a large part of the financial manna intended to build the next American manned launch vehicle will change hands! Consequently, the test flight on 27 October is seen in extremes, either as totally useless as for some the die is cast and Ares condemned right from the start, or conversely, as crucial as its success would finally give NASA the chance to prove that its approach was the right one. In short, Ares I and its experimental predecessor Ares I-X are to be put to the test and the members of the space industry will watch what happens at the end of the month very carefully.
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