Ares IV is a design for a heavy-lift launch vehicle that could be used for human spaceflight missions. It is one of the launch vehicle designs which has been proposed for inclusion in the Constellation program, which NASA plans to use for space exploration after the Space Shuttle is retired.

[edit] Description

Comparison of Saturn V, Space Shuttle, and the future Ares launch vehicles

Like the Ares I and Ares V designs, Ares IV would be a Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle. As described by NASA in January 2007, the 113 m (371 ft) vehicle would consist of the liquid-fueled core stage from the Ares V heavy lift launch vehicle (LV) design, two five-segment solid rocket boosters, and the liquid-fueled upper stage from the Ares I LV.^[1] Total payload capacity would be 41,100 kg (90,610 lb) to 240 miles (386 km) for direct trans-lunar injection.

[edit] Proposed design

In late January 2007, NASA stated that the Ares IV was being considered as a way to fly early crewed lunar-orbit-only missions to provide "shakeout" testing of the Orion crew exploration vehicle, and to evaluate high-speed "skip" reentry profiles of the Orion capsule.^[2]

The Ares IV, it was proposed, might also be useful beyond the above mentioned early roles. The vehicle would be capable of launching either the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) or the Block 2 lunar mission Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV) into a direct lunar trajectory. After two Ares IV launches, one for the manned Orion spacecraft and one for the unmanned LSAM lander, the Orion and LSAM vehicles would rendezvous and dock in lunar orbit. This would be in contrast to the mission scenario for Ares I and Ares V in which the crewed Orion and empty LSAM would rendezvous and dock in Earth orbit then depart for the Moon. If the original plans are kept intact the Ares IV may be useful in the event of an Apollo 13-like malfunction by launching a modified unmanned "Rescue Orion" to the Moon allowing the crew, using the LSAM as a lifeboat, to abandon the damaged Orion and come back to Earth in the "Rescue Orion."

The Ares IV without the Solid Rocket Boosters could also be utilized to place the Orion spacecraft into low-Earth orbit, allowing NASA to retire the Ares I and to save costs by using identical facilities.^{[citation needed]} This would be in the same concept as that for the Saturn II and Saturn INT-20 rockets that were planned for the Apollo Applications Program, but scrapped by the Nixon Administration in favor of the Space Shuttle.

[edit] Constellation program to proceed with Ares I and V

As of January 2009, according to NASA official Brian Dunbar^[3], upon evaluating thousands of space transportation designs, including a "thorough analysis of all the exploration architecture requirements, other solutions were ultimately determined to be less safe, less reliable, and more costly than Ares I and Ares V."^[3]

[edit] See also

• Constellation program
• Orion (spacecraft)
• Ares I
• Ares V
• Saturn V
• DIRECT, shuttle-derived launcher proposed as alternative to Ares I and Ares V
• Space Shuttle

[edit] References

v • d • e Constellation program Launch tests Ares I-X · Ares I-Y(cancelled) · Ares I-X Prime · Ares V-Y Later missions List of Constellation missions · Orion Asteroid Mission · Orion Mars Mission Components Orion · Ares I · Ares V · Earth Departure Stage · Altair · J-2X · RS-68 · Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Launch sites Kennedy Space Center · LC-39 Abort Orion abort modes · Orion Abort Test Booster · Launch Abort System (LAS) · Max Launch Abort System (MLAS) Related topics Vision for Space Exploration · Exploration Systems Architecture Study · DIRECT · Constellation Space Suit · Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (AT-LAST) · NASA Authorization Act of 2005 · Augustine Commission List of missions

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