Jan 14, 2011 10:11 GMT  ·  By
This is a rendition of the ARES V heavy-lift delivery system that was supposed to be developed under Project Constellation
   This is a rendition of the ARES V heavy-lift delivery system that was supposed to be developed under Project Constellation

Under the now-defunct Project Constellation, the American space agency was to construct a new heavy-lift delivery system, the ARES V. But Congress asked for a different approach late last years, and NASA has now come through with a new proposal that significantly reduces costs.

In a presentation NASA officials made lawmakers on Monday, January 10, they highlighted the main features of a new type of heavy rocket, that would respect Congress' demands of being able to haul between 70 and 100 metric tons of cargo to low-Earth orbit (LEO).

One of the main points that representatives from the space agency made was that, in order for this project to materialize, Congress needs to unblock the funds it agreed to give NASA last October.

At the time, President Barack Obama signed the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 into law, granting the agency the money needed to draft up a study on the new delivery system, and how it could be achieved.

The goal here was to reduce the time frame associated with building a new heavy rocket. If Project Constellation would have continued, the ARES V system would have been ready by around 2018.

What Congress wanted was a rocket that would incorporate elements used in the space shuttle infrastructure with innovations achieved during the 5 years that Constellation was operational.

At the same time, lawmakers instructed NASA to make the most of the contracts already signed with various private contractors for a number of rocket components. Closing these contracts prematurely would have cost the agency greatly.

At the end of last year, authorities in Washington gave experts at NASA three months to draft up a new proposal, which is what scientists presented on Monday, Space reports.

But the presentation was shadowed by the fact that the main conclusion of the investigation was that NASA could not guarantee the rocket or the spacecraft Congress wants can be completed within the time and money alloted.

The amount of innovation needed to fly sorties at low costs requires heavy investments, and many years of studies, which cannot be achieved in the time frame lawmakers want.

The heavy-lift rocket they envisioned contains the current shuttle main engines, larger versions of the solid rocket boosters (SRB) the orbiters us, as well as the giant external fuel tank (EFT) in use today.

According to NASA associate administrator for exploration systems, Doug Cooke, the approach the agency found for answering Congress' requests is the cheapest and most feasible under the circumstances. But it cannot be completed within a couple of years by any means.

The design that the agency proposes includes five RS-25D shuttle engines, a J-2X-powered upper stage, and two, 5-segment SRB of the type that were supposed to go on Constellation's ARES I rocket.

“This design would allow NASA to use existing Shuttle main engine and booster component assets in the near term, with the opportunity for upgrades and/or competition downstream for eventual upgrades in designs needed for production of engines after flying out the current inventory of main engines and booster components,” the NASA document says.

“However, to be clear, neither Reference Vehicle Design currently fits the projected budget profiles nor schedule goals outlined in the Authorization Act,” it concludes.