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Right now, the Agency has only provided the \u201cparty line\u201d of two test flights around the moon, a visit to a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) sometime in the mid 2020s and the eventual crewed missions to Mars in the mid 2030s.<\/p>\n
As noted by some people working within the exploration effort, there is a level of frustration that the Agency\u2019s own top boss appears more politically fixated in salvaging the remains of President Obama\u2019s defunct FY2011 budget proposal, as opposed to promoting what they claim is an exciting exploration roadmap development process.<\/p>\n
General Bolden, however, recently claimed no one is \u201cmore passionate\u201d about SLS and Orion than him, despite what appeared to be efforts to continually roadblock the HLV\u2019s progress under his command.<\/p>\n
This continuing effort in creating an expansive roadmap is backed up by documentation, which outlines a large amount of work on an array of missions to push the United States back into deep space.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z4191.jpg\" "\\"Z419\\"")
Two vehicles are at the center of this return to Beyond Earth Exploration (BEO), with the Space Launch System (SLS) providing the muscle to loft the heavy elements of hardware into orbit, and the Orion (MPCV) \u2013 which will be the Agency\u2019s crew vehicle of choice.<\/p>\nAerospace & Defense
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Technically, the duo have a standby role of providing crew rotation on the International Space Station (ISS), a requirement stated in the 2010 Authorization Act, as much as this role is highly unlikely, as it would take a serious problem with the Commercial Crew schedule to result in the overpowered SLS launching a BEO designed Orion to the orbital outpost.<\/p>\n
Regardless, this requirement is listed in the March ESD Con Ops Document \u2013 acquired by L2 (L2 Link to Presentation) \u2013 as a Design Reference Mission (DRM), listed as ISS Back-up Crew Delivery, which \u201cdelivers crew members and cargo to ISS if other vehicles are unable to perform that function. Mission length 216 mission days. 6 crewed days. Up to 210 days at the ISS.\u201d<\/p>\n
For SLS\/HLV Articles, click here: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/tag\/hlv\/<\/p>\n
SLS\/Orion To The Moon:<\/p>\n
SLS\u2019 opening role \u2013 under a nominal scenario for the Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) \u2013 is now well known, with a mid-December, 2017 launch of a Block 1 (70mt) SLS with an Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), launching an unmanned Orion on a 7-10 day mission to the Moon, with an aim to qualify the Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) and Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) Orion to carry humans into deep space.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z76.jpg\" "\\"Z7\\"")
Known as Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), Orion will be sent around the far side of the Moon, prior to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n\u201cUncrewed Lunar Flyby: Uncrewed mission Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) to test critical mission events and demonstrate performance in relevant environments. Expected drivers include: SLS and ICPS performance, MPCV environments, MPCV re-entry speed, and BEO operations,\u201d noted the Con Ops presentation.<\/p>\n
This DRM lists the Total Payload Gross Liftoff Mass at 62.2 tons, with SLS\u2019 Payload Insertion Mass at 50.4 tons. The document also notes that the mission duration may be tweaked, listing a slightly different timeline of 6-8 mission days, with around one day at the destination.<\/p>\n
The next scheduled mission on the DRMs relates to EM-2, which is listed as the Crewed Lunar Orbit. Publicly, the Agency has listed this mission as a 2021 launch. However, as previously reported and acknowledged by General Bolden recently, the effort to push this date to 2019 is being evaluated.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z831.jpg\" "\\"Z83\\"")
\u201cCrewed mission to enter lunar orbit, test critical mission events, and perform operations in relevant environments,\u201d added the Con Ops. \u201cExpected drivers include: SLS and ICPS performance, crew support for BEO mission duration, MPCV delta V, MPCV re-entry speed.\u201d<\/p>\nWith a crew of four onboard the Orion for the trip to the Moon, the DRM lists slightly different numbers than EM-1, with a Total Payload Gross Liftoff Mass at 68.8 tons, with SLS\u2019 Payload Insertion Mass at 57.0 tons. This mission would have a length of 10-14 days, with four days at the destination \u2013 pointing to numerous Lunar orbits for Orion and its crew.<\/p>\n
These two missions are listed under the Tactical Timeframe DRMs, whereas a third Lunar orbit mission is listed under the Strategic Timeframe DRMs. The major difference is the launch vehicle, with the 105mt capable Block 1A SLS being used, with a Block I CPS.<\/p>\n
\u201cLow Lunar Orbit (LLO): Crewed mission to LLO. Expected drivers include: SLS and CPS performance, MPCV re-entry speed, and LLO environment for MPCV,\u201d added the document.<\/p>\n
Total Payload Gross Liftoff Mass is shown as a hefty 103 tons, with SLS\u2019 Payload Insertion Mass at 97.5 tons for a 12 day mission, three of which would be in Lunar orbit.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z315.jpg\" "\\"Z3\\"")
Notably, the difference between the ICPS and the CPS is a major factor, with the ICPS likely to be very similar to the Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) \u2013 which will hook up with Orion in 2014 during the Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) mission.<\/p>\nThe CPS \u2013 which has been under evaluation for around two years and is now finally under the direction and funding of the SLS program \u2013 is entering into its RAC (Requirements Analysis Cycle), which should be completed in May.<\/p>\n
According to L2\u2019s SLS Development update section (L2 Link) CPS\u2019 that are being studied in this RAC will be early versions that could store propellants for as much as eight days for use in lunar orbit or somewhere else in cislunar space. The first flight would be in the early 2020s.<\/p>\n
Additionally, multiple versions are being studied. using as few as two \u2013 or as many as four \u2013 RL-10 engines for propulsion.<\/p>\n
Lunar Missions To The Surface:<\/p>\n
Technically, a return to the surface of the Moon was cancelled when the Constellation Program (CxP) ended. However, a growing movement within the exploration community at NASA resulted in documented references into the potential of new footprints being placed on our nearest neighbor.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z621.jpg\" "\\"Z62\\"")
Once again, this effort hasn\u2019t been publicly promoted by NASA, nor was it referenced to lawmakers during the recent hearing involving General Bolden.<\/p>\nRegardless, once again, documentation placed the potential for such missions firmly into the spotlight, with the ESD Con Ops listing it alongside the main NEA missions under the Architectural Timeframe DRMs.<\/p>\n
\u201cLunar Surface Sortie (LSS): Lands four crew members on the surface of the Moon in the equatorial or Polar Regions and returns them to Earth,\u201d noted the presentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cExpected drivers include: MPCV operations in LLO environment, MPCV uncrewed ops phase, MPCV delta V requirements, RPOD (Rendezvous, Proximity Operations and Docking), MPCV number of habitable days.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z511.jpg\" "\\"Z5\\"")
A lot will hinge on the ability to include a Lunar Lander into the Exploration Roadmap, as listed in the presentation\u2019s outline on the hardware elements relating to the forward plan.<\/p>\n\u201cLunar Lander: Transports crew to\/from the Lunar surface and supports crew for short duration surface stays. Sortie two-module configuration has Descent Module (DM) and Ascent Module (AM). AM includes Suit Ports and a side hatch opening to the lander deck. Crew equipment, supplies, and consumables stowed in the AM.<\/p>\n
\u201cA three-module vehicle configuration for extended stays consists of the DM, the AM, and a Suit Lock\/ Suit Port (SL) module.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z413.jpg\" "\\"Ares1X_V2_HDweb\\"")
It is unknown if this vehicle would result in the resurrection of the Altair lander \u2013 as depicted for use with the Constellation Program \u2013 although a foundation of work on variants of this lander would be available to the engineering teams.<\/p>\nAs listed in the Con Ops, this mission \u2013 based on just SLS related hardware \u2013 would involve two Block 1A SLS vehicles, launching 121 days apart. The first SLS would launch the Lunar Lander, with a Block 1 CPS, followed by the second SLS launching a crew of four on Orion for a 19 day mission, with seven days on the Moon.<\/p>\n
No dates are provided by the Con Ops, although based on the availability of the SLS Block 1A, such a mission would be viable by the first half of the 2020s.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z78.jpg\" "\\"Z78\\"")
Also providing a boost for the roadmap that includes Lunar destinations \u2013 as a stepping stone towards NEA and eventual Mars missions \u2013 is the large amount of work taking place on evaluating an \u201cExploration Gateway\u201c.<\/p>\nISS and Exploration teams are currently involved in what is being described as \u201cL2 WayPoint Activities\u201c, with cross-center sources claiming a groundswell of support for marrying SLS and Orion to this drive after the EM-2 mission. See L2\u2019s Exploration Roadmap Update section for additional information (L2 Link).<\/p>\n
As such, the roadmap appears to be closing in on the two SLS missions to qualify the launch vehicle and Orion, hopefully by 2019, prior to the drive towards constructing and deploying \u2013 via Solar Electric Power (SEP) \u2013 the Exploration Platform to EML-2.<\/p>\n
With either SLS only, or Exploration Platform involvement, sortie missions to the Lunar surface would then take place, followed by NEA missions. The NEA mission DRMs take up a large amount of the ESD Con Ops overview and will be covered in an upcoming article<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z3141.jpg\" "\\"Z314\\"")
This would all play a role towards the main goal of crewed missions to Mars. While the ESD Con Ops failed to list any Mars related DRMs \u2013 classing them as To Be Determined (TBD) \u2013 documentation on L2\u2019s Exploration Roadmap section recently acquired notes that show this effort is under evaluation.<\/p>\n\u201cPhobos\/Deimos Con Ops Team (is) now up and running to define potential Human Mission activities at the Mars moons,\u201d claimed the documentation \u2013 which mirrors all recent Mars mission documentation, pointing to a mission to one of Mars\u2019 moons, before landing on Mars itself.<\/p>\n
However, it remains likely that General Bolden\u2019s claim such Mars missions won\u2019t take place until the mid 2030s is accurate, and \u2013 as with all the DRMs \u2013 is at the mercy of political support and NASA funding levels.<\/p>\n
Images: Via L2 content, NASA and Boeing.)<\/p>\n
(To join L2, support NSF and access 4,500+ gbs of exclusive content \u2013 added to on a daily basis \u2013 click here: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The latest documentation relating to the efforts to create an Exploration Roadmap for NASA\u2019s future has provided the strongest indication to date that the Agency wants to return US astronauts to the surface of the Moon. Listed as a Lunar Surface Sortie (LSS) mission, the Exploration Systems Development Division (ESD) revealed their plans via their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9034,625,640,624],"class_list":["post-40173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-hlv","tag-moon","tag-orion","tag-sls"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40173"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}