Part of Saturn V returns

[Dr Mordrid]

Not unexpected, but now official;


Saturn V, STS, Ares I and two Ares V configurations. Yes, Ares V is as big or bigger than Saturn V.

Link....

Upper stage engine contract awarded for Ares rockets

NASA NEWS RELEASE
Posted: July 16, 2007

WASHINGTON - NASA has signed a $1.2 billion contract with Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne Inc., of Canoga Park, Calif., for design, development, testing and evaluation of the J-2X engine that will power the upper stages of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles.

The contract includes ground and test flight engines. It continues work that began on June 2, 2006, under a preliminary letter contract with Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne.

NASA awarded the cost-plus-award fee contract to Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne on a sole-source basis, NASA determined that no other existing capability meets its architecture requirements and is able to be extended to future exploration missions to the moon and beyond.

The contract performance period extends through Dec. 31, 2012. Engines for operational missions will be purchased through a separate contract.

The J-2X is an evolved version of two historic predecessors: the powerful J-2 engine that propelled the Apollo-era Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets, and the J-2S, a simplified version of the J-2 that was developed and tested in the early 1970s. Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne designed and developed both the J-2 and the J-2S and has been responsible for producing, refurbishing and improving them. The J-2X engine will incorporate significant upgrades to meet higher performance and reliability requirements for the Ares vehicles.

Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle to low Earth orbit. Orion will accommodate as many as six astronauts. The first stage will consist of a single reusable solid propellant rocket booster similar to those used on the space shuttle, with an additional fifth segment. The second, or upper, stage will consist of a J-2X liquid oxygen- and liquid hydrogen-fueled main engine and a new upper stage fuel tank.

Ares V will enable NASA to launch a variety of science and exploration payloads, as well as key components needed to go to the moon and later to Mars. Ares V, a heavy lift launch vehicle, will use five RS-68 liquid oxygen- and liquid hydrogen-fueled engines mounted below a larger version of the space shuttle's external tank and two five-segment solid propellant rocket boosters for the first stage. The upper stage will use the same J-2X engine as the Ares I.

The J-2X upper stage engine is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., for NASA's Constellation Program.

[Nowhere]

Hmm...the right drawing suggest there will be manned version of Ares V? (one shot to the moon?)

[Dr Mordrid]

Some people refer to it as "Ares IV"

The idea is that it could eliminate the Ares V and its EDS (Earth Departure Stage). Instead an Ares IV launch would send the lunar lander (LSAM, some call it Artemis) directly to lunar orbit. Another Ares IV would launch Orion to lunar orbit where they would rendezvous and dock.

AFAIK it's still in the talking stage. It's weakness is that it's not as suited to heavy lift EDS missions like trips to near-Earth asteroids or Lagrange points like L2, the future home of the James Webb Space Telescope. If it needs repair Orion would have to do it.

Of course by the time either is ready SpaceX could be flying their BFR (big f'ing rocket; no, it's not a joke name) which will have Saturn V size engines & more power. A monster.