NASA: Orion flight schedule

[Dr Mordrid]

Constellation/Orion program flight schedule

Ares 1 = the man-rated booster.

Ares V = the heavy launch vehicle (HLV), bigger than Saturn V. 120+ metric tons to LEO (Shuttle = <30 mt)

Orion = manned/unmanned spaceship. Block 1 = 3-man; Block 2 = 4-man. Block 3 = 6-man Mars variant. Also a cargo variant.

LSAM = the lunar lander, AKA Aretmis.

Ares 1: 2009. First stage test w/4 of 5 SRB segments active & inert 2nd stage.

To be followed by a series of launch abort system tests at White Sands.

Ares 2: Sept. 2012. Suborbital 5 segment SRB & operational J-2X second stage + boilerplate Orion mockup + launch escape system.

Ares 3: Sept. 2013. Orbital with full Orion to an ISS orbit. 2 week mission.

Ares/Orion 4: June 2014. Full dress rehersal for the first manned mission. ISS rendevous, but no docking.

Ares/Orion 5: Sept. 2014. First manned Orion mission. 2-man crew, 2 week mission w/EVA. Possible stop at ISS.

Ares/Orion 6: Dec. 2014. First unmanned cargo to ISS. 90 day mission.

Ares/Orion 7: May 2015. Full 3-man crew rotation to ISS plus cargo. 180 day mission.

Ares/Orion 8: May 2015. Unmanned cargo to ISS. 30 day mission.

Ares/Orion 9: July 2015. Unmanned cargo to ISS. 30 day mission.

Ares/Orion 10: Sept. 2015. 3-man crew crew rotation to ISS. 180 day mission.

Ares/Orion 11: Dec. 2015. Unmanned cargo to ISS. 30 day mission.

Lunar flight tests begin.

Ares V: June 2018. First HLV test flight. 2 5-segment SRB's + 5 RS-68 main engines, but an inert Earth Departure Stage (EDS) + ballast.

Ares/Orion 12: June 2019. First full lunar mission package; Block 2 Orion (4-man crew), Ares V HLV with EDS and LSAM lander (Artemis). Dock EDS/Artemis with Orion and fly to lunar orbit. Artemis will perform an unmanned landing then return & dock with Orion. Orion will practice its "sleep mode", where it can stay in lunar orbit unmanned for extended periods. 21 day mission.

Yes, both Orion & Artemis have autonomous operational capabilities.

Ares/Orion 13: Dec. 2019. Manned lunar landing. 3 crew members go to the lunar surface in Artemis & 1 stays in Orion. In later missions all 4 may go to the surface with Orion left in sleep mode.

Ares/Orion 14: June 2020. Manned lunar landing. No specifics.

Interesting point: NO Orion ISS missions are listed after Orion 11, making one wonder if the COTS winner will take over ISS crew & resupply missions well past the Orion development.

That or the US intends to exit the ISS around 2016 and concentrate its resources on the Constellation program.

IMO there is a high probability that this is a "Scotty Schedule"; a bit pessimistic so as to look good if they do it faster.

[KRSESQ]

Jesus. First scheduled (tentative!) return moon landing 50 years and five months after Apollo 11. That weird whirring sound you hear is JFK spinning in his grave.

Is this what the Space Shuttle program has got us?

Kevin

[Dr Mordrid]

Yes, it set us back at least that long. NASA had plans for a very Orion-like large capsule & modular system like Constellation but the spaceplane geeks got their way, unfortunately.

If it weren't for the shuttle program and other such foolishness NASA could have been on Mars in the mid-80's using nuclear thermal rockets. In fact they're still a great way to go.