Recently in Ares Category

credit: NASA / caption: click on this image to see a larger version in the same browser window

At the International Astronautical Congress 2008, held in Glasgow, Scotland last week NASA's crew launch vehicle implementation office manager Charles Cockrell gave a briefing on the 3 October about the Constellation programme's vehicle testing plans

Click through to the extended portion of this blog post to see the Ares testing briefing video

credit: NASA

At the International Astronautical Congress 2008, held in Glasgow, Scotland last week NASA's Constellation operations and test integration associate director, Thomas Rathjen, gave a briefing on the 3 October about the programme's flight test strategy

Tomorrow I will post a video briefing about NASA's Ares testing plan

Click through to the extended portion of this blog post to see the Ares strategy briefing video

credit: NASA

At the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2008, held in Glasgow, Scotland last week NASA's Ares V integration manager Stephen Creech gave a briefing on the 3 October about the new heavy lift rocket, Ares V cargo launch vehicle

Tomorrow I will post a video briefing about NASA's Ares flight test strategy

Click through to the extended portion of this blog post to see the Ares V briefing video

credit: NASA

At the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2008, held in Glasgow, Scotland, last week NASA's deputy mission manager for its Ares I-X test flight Stephan (pronounced Stephen not Stef-an) Davis gave a briefing on the work underway to fly the representative rocket next year 

Tomorrow I will post Steve Creech's IAC 2008 Ares V briefing

Click through to the extended portion of this blog post to see the Ares I-X briefing video

credit: NASA / caption: this slide is not from Steve's presentation

You have seen him on NASA tv and perhaps heard him on a media telecon if you dialled in but the video in the extended portion of this blog post is 30min of NASA's Ares project office manager Steve Cook, chief designer of the Ares I crew launch vehicle, talking about that rocket, which is so controversial in some quarters, and taking questions from the audience at the International Astronautical Congress being held here in Glasgow, Scotland this week

The presentation took place on Monday but due to internet access limitations I am only posting it now

Thursday 10 September
1130h

Perish Parikh
Orion LAS programme

developing three completely new rocket motors with new technology

attitude control motor
jettison motor
abort motor

Thursday 11 September
1000h

Steve Davis
Marshall Space Flight Center

Ares I-X is needed to study,
Bending moments/motions
Roll, no corkscrewing up to space
Separation effect on J-2X
Recovery process

credit: NASA / caption: Shuttle SRB aft skirt's thrust vector control hydrazine powered hydraulic system

On 5 August NASA released a pre-solicitation synopsis for a Request for Proposal (RFP) for its Ares [I crew launch vehicle solid rocket booster (SRB) first-stage] electric thrust vector control (TVC) prototype risk reduction system requirement - more easily written than read 

Its another example of how the CLV's first-stage will bear little resemblance to the original Shuttle SRB. From memory, I think, a change to an electric TVC would literally mean the only original bit of the Shuttle SRB design to remain will be the steel segment casings 

For years TVC electromechanical actuators (EMA) have been investigated because NASA believes they are lighter, cleaner, possibly even safer in their operation, and are easier to maintain than the hydrazine powered hydraulics used by Shuttle today

NASA Ames Research Center is to study the uncertainty in simulations of Ares launch vehicles propellant tank explosions, in particular the "potential consequences of leakage" through a liquid hdyrogen (LH2), liquid oxygen (LOX) tank common bulkhead with simulations of bulkhead leaks, LOX/LH2 tank drop tests and boiling liquid, expanding vapour explosions (BLEVEs)


credit: NASA

In what is either a misreport or a stunning change of events since my chat with NASA's Ares V man Phil Sumrall in February it appears that the agency is reconsidering ANOTHER stage for the cargo launch vehicle



credit: NASA