Crew Module / Orion Project Office

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Crew Module

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Orion orbits the moon with disc-shaped solar arrays tracking the sun to generate electricity. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin Corp.

NASA’s new human spacecraft with its solar panels deployed in orbit around the moon. The new crew capsule will be designed to carry four astronauts on a lunar expedition and can be reused up to 10 times. It can carry up to six crewmembers for reentry from a trip to Mars and can also deliver cargo and crew to the international space station. Sitting atop a service module, the capsule uses an Apollo-like shape, which reduces development time and is safer. But the new spaceship has three times Apollo’s volume, allowing room for the bigger crew. The new crew capsule has solar panels to provide electrical power.

Veteran Shape, State-of-the Art Technology

Exploded view of Orion. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin Corp.

Orion will be similar in shape to the Apollo spacecraft, but significantly larger. The Apollo-style heat shield is the best understood shape for re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, especially when returning directly from the moon. Orion will be 5 meters (16.5 feet) in diameter and have a mass of about 22.7 metric tons (25 tons). Inside, it will have more than two-and-a-half times the volume of an Apollo capsule.

The larger size will allow Orion to accommodate four crew members on missions to the moon, and six on missions to the International Space Station or Mars-bound spacecraft. Orion is scheduled to fly its first missions to the space station by 2014 and carry out its first sortie to the moon by 2020.

A launch abort system atop the Orion capsule will be capable of pulling the spacecraft and its crew to safety in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or at any time during ascent.

Orion’s power and propulsion systems will be housed in a service module that will be mounted directly below the capsule, covering the entry heat shield during launch and in-space activities. A spacecraft adapter will connect the Orion capsule and service module to the launch systems.

Orion will be launched into low-Earth orbit by the Ares I crew launch vehicle. To maximize the crew’s safety, Orion and its abort system will be placed at the top of the Ares I rocket. The rest of the two-stage Ares I will be stacked vertically, below the crew vehicle. This design will virtually eliminate the possibility of debris from the booster striking Orion during ascent.

Orion will be able to remain docked to the station for up to six months, providing a means for the crew to return to Earth at any time. The spacecraft will have the ability to stay in lunar orbit untended for the duration of a lunar surface visit that could be up to six months.

Orion will be capable of carrying pressurized cargo to the space station on unpiloted missions.

Journey to the Moon

For missions to the moon, NASA will use two separate launch vehicles, each derived from a mixture of systems with heritage rooted in Apollo, space shuttle and commercial launch vehicle technology.

An Ares V cargo launch vehicle will precede the launch of the crew vehicle, delivering to low-Earth orbit the Earth departure stage and the lunar module that will carry explorers on the last leg of the journey to the moon’s surface. Orion will dock with the lunar module in Earth orbit, and the Earth departure stage will propel both on their journey to the moon. Once in lunar orbit, all four astronauts will use the lunar landing craft to travel to the moon’s surface, while the Orion spacecraft stays in lunar orbit. Once the astronauts’ lunar mission is complete, they will return to the orbiting Orion vehicle using a lunar ascent module. The crew will use the service module main engine to break out of lunar orbit and head to Earth.

Orion and its crew will reenter Earth’s atmosphere using a newly developed thermal protection system. Parachutes will further slow Orion’s descent through the atmosphere.

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