Project Constellation is a plan by NASA to land a man on the Moon, establish a permanent base, and prepare for a mission to Mars. It includes heavy boosters, new spacecraft, and a lunar booster. The project aims to put a man on the Moon by 2020, with a cost of $20 billion over 20 years. The mission approach combines Earth Orbit Rendezvous and Lunar Orbit Rendezvous. NASA tested an inflatable habitat in Antarctica for future lunar base use.
Project Constellation is a plan for the US government, via the space agency NASA, to land a man on the Moon, establish a permanent base there, and set the stage for a possible mission to Mars. As currently planned, Project Constellation consists of the design, construction, testing and operation of heavy boosters (Ares I, Ares IV, Ares V), two new spacecraft (Orion Crew Vehicle and Altair Lunar Lander) and a lunar booster (Earth Phase of departure).
Project Constellation can be considered a modernized version of the 1960s Project Apollo, with more than one eye toward a permanent moon base and future mission to Mars. The Constellation project is projected to cost $20 billion US dollars over twenty years (2004 – 2024), with the cost of spacecraft orders not exceeding $3.5 billion dollars. By comparison, the Apollo project cost $28 billion (2006 dollars), while the Shuttle program cost $145 billion (2006 dollars).
The main goal of Project Constellation is to put a man on the Moon by 2020. This is a more relaxed timeline than the Apollo program, which was announced in 1961 and reached the Moon in 1969.
To reach the Moon, the Apollo missions used a Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) approach, firing a two-part vehicle into lunar orbit. One part of the craft (Lunar Module) detached from the other (Command Module), landed on the Moon, then made a rendezvous with the Command Module in lunar orbit. These ships then returned together to Earth. The Constellation project will place greater emphasis on Earth Orbit Rendezvous (EOR). In EOR, supplies and fuel are dropped separately by astronauts. These spacecraft then link up in Earth orbit before their journey to the Moon. Upon arrival at the Moon, the Orion Crew Vehicle is left in orbit unmanned, while the crew of four embarks on the Altair Lunar Lander for a visit to the Moon. At the end of their stay, Altair reconnects with Orion and they return to Earth. This mission approach combines EOR and LOR.
NASA tested an inflatable habitat in Antarctica for use by Project Constellation astronauts. This could form the core of a future lunar base.
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