Costs May Restrict Science Use Of Constellation Launchers

摘要

While NASA's planned Ares 5 rocket could be used to launch large and ambitious space science missions a decade or so from now, such missions could prove too expensive to ever come to fruition, a National Research Council (NRC) committee said in a report released Nov. 24. NRC's Committee on Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA's Constellation System assessed 17 proposed future science missions and how they would benefit from NASA's Constellation launch infrastructure, which includes the Ares 1 crew launch vehicle, Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and Ares 5 heavy-lift cargo launcher. The committee concluded that for science missions, Ares 1 does not offer capabilities much different from those already offered by the family of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV) operated by Denver-based United Launch Alliance.rnThe publication of the report coincided with NASA's release of a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the first phase of Ares 5 development. NASA is collecting input from industry to help formulate an Ares 5 study contract RFP due out in January. NASA's plans call for bringing Ares 5 on line in time for human lunar missions starting in 2020. Development of Orion and Ares 1 already are well under way, with the first crewed launchrntargeted for early 2015.