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Lockheed Martin’s Constellation Orion will replace the space shuttle for space travel. It resembles the Apollo spacecraft and will have a four-man crew focused on research. Orion will be parachuted back to Earth and have a single engine service module. The launch will be timed for a lunar landing, with the initial mission being a trip to the International Space Station. The goal is a seven-day stay on the moon’s surface, with plans to extend it to 180 days and eventually establish a lunar station. Orion missions may also test the possibility of a Mars landing.
The destruction of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 prompted the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to look for alternative methods of space travel. The vehicle that should replace the space shuttle is the Constellation Orion produced by Lockheed Martin. The Orion looks very similar to the 1960s Apollo spacecraft, although it is larger and much more advanced. Orion will contain a four-man crew whose primary focus is research. Unlike previous lunar missions, all four crew members will leave the craft in orbit to travel to the moon’s surface.
Orion has sometimes been called “Apollo on steroids” due to its similar appearance to the original lunar spacecraft. In many basic ways, it’s much more like Apollo than the actual space shuttle. Orion is shaped like a cone and features a capsule that will be safely parachuted upon its return to Earth, rather than the space shuttle plane landing.
Plans for Orion call for it to measure 16.5 feet (5 meters) in diameter and 10.8 feet (3.3 meters) high. When empty, it will weigh approximately 31,000 pounds (14,000 kg). Estimated habitable volume is 692 cubic feet (11 cubic meters). This makes it larger than Apollo, but smaller than the Space Shuttle.
Orion will have a single engine service module that houses the bays. Basic functions will be handled by batteries and fuel cells that generate electricity. These electrical functions will be augmented with solar arrays that will keep power to a minimum during unmanned lunar orbit.
The launch must be carefully timed for a lunar landing to be successful. First, Orion will be launched from Kennedy Space Station using an Ares I launch vehicle. An hour and a half after its launch, a Res V rocket will launch the Altair lunar landing spacecraft and an Earth starting stage into Earth orbit to meet Orion. They will come together and orbit the Earth for up to four days while waiting for the moon to be in the correct position.
When the translunar injection window is open, meaning the moon is properly aligned with the vehicle, the Earth departure phase will cause the merged spacecraft to blast towards the moon. The Earth departure stage will disappear, and the Altai Lunar Lander will send the remaining ship into orbit around the moon. The crew will use the Lunar Lander to land safely on the moon’s surface while the rest of the spacecraft will remain in orbit awaiting their return.
The initial mission of the Constellation Orion will be a trip to the International Space Station. This first test of the system will help identify any problems that could be detrimental to a moon landing. The goal for the first trip to the moon is a seven-day stay on the surface. Scientists plan to extend that to 180 days within a decade of Orion’s first mission, with the eventual goal of a lunar station. Rumors have circulated that an eventual landing on Mars will start with a lunar launch, so Orion missions will presumably test the waters for that possibility.
