Constellation program

The Constellation Program (abbreviated CxP) is a cancelled crewed spaceflight program developed by NASA, the space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. The major goals of the program were 'completion of the International Space Station' and a 'return to the Moon no later than 2020' with a crewed flight to the planet Mars as the ultimate goal. The program's logo reflected the three stages of the program: the Earth (ISS), the Moon, and finally Mars—while the Mars goal also found expression in the name given to the program's booster rockets: Ares (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Mars). The technological aims of the program included the regaining of significant astronaut experience beyond low Earth orbit and the development of technologies necessary to enable sustained human presence on other planetary bodies. The Constellation Program (abbreviated CxP) is a cancelled crewed spaceflight program developed by NASA, the space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. The major goals of the program were 'completion of the International Space Station' and a 'return to the Moon no later than 2020' with a crewed flight to the planet Mars as the ultimate goal. The program's logo reflected the three stages of the program: the Earth (ISS), the Moon, and finally Mars—while the Mars goal also found expression in the name given to the program's booster rockets: Ares (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Mars). The technological aims of the program included the regaining of significant astronaut experience beyond low Earth orbit and the development of technologies necessary to enable sustained human presence on other planetary bodies. Constellation began in response to the goals laid out in the Vision for Space Exploration under NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. O'Keefe's successor, Michael D. Griffin, ordered a complete review, termed the Exploration Systems Architecture Study, which reshaped how NASA would pursue the goals laid out in the Vision for Space Exploration, and its findings were formalized by the NASA Authorization Act of 2005. The Act directed NASA to 'develop a sustained human presence on the Moon, including a robust precursor program to promote exploration, science, commerce and US preeminence in space, and as a stepping stone to future exploration of Mars and other destinations.' Work began on this revised Constellation Program, to send astronauts first to the International Space Station, then to the Moon, and then to Mars and beyond. Subsequent to the findings of the Augustine Committee in 2009 that the Constellation Program could not be executed without substantial increases in funding, on February 1, 2010, President Barack Obama announced a proposal to cancel the program, effective with the passage of the U.S. 2011 fiscal year budget. He later announced changes to the proposal in a major space policy speech at Kennedy Space Center on April 15, 2010. Obama signed the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 on October 11, which shelved the program, with Constellation contracts remaining in place until Congress would act to overturn the previous mandate. In 2011, NASA announced that it had adopted the design of its new Space Launch System. One of the main goals of Constellation was the development of spacecraft and booster vehicles to replace the Space Shuttle. NASA had already begun designing two boosters, the Ares I and Ares V, when the program was created. Ares I was designed for the sole purpose of launching mission crews into orbit, while Ares V would have been used to launch other hardware which required a heavier lift capacity than the Ares I booster provided. In addition to these two boosters, NASA designed other spacecraft for use during Constellation, including the Orion crew capsule, the Earth Departure Stage secondary booster, and the Altair lunar lander. The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle was designed for the Constellation program as a crew compartment for use in low Earth orbit. Lockheed Martin was selected as the prime contractor for the Orion project on August 31, 2006, and Boeing was selected to build its primary heat shield on September 15, 2006. NASA initially planned to develop different Orion capsules tailored for specific missions. The Block I Orion was to be used for International Space Station missions and other Earth orbit missions, while the Block II and III variants were designed for deep-space exploration. Orion's design consists of three main parts: a Crew Module (CM) similar to the Apollo Command Module, but capable of sustaining four to six crew members; a cylindrical Service Module (SM) containing the primary propulsion systems and consumable supplies; and the Launch Abort System (LAS), which provides capability for the astronauts and Crew Module to escape from the launch vehicle should problems arise during launch ascent. The Orion Crew Module is designed to be reusable for up to ten flights, allowing NASA to construct a fleet of Orion crew modules. Despite the cancellation of the Constellation program, development of a variant of the Orion spacecraft, the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), continues, with a test launch performed on 5 December 2014. A second one is scheduled for six years later. Altair (formerly known as the Lunar Surface Access Module, LSAM) was designed to be the main transport vehicle for astronauts on lunar missions. The Altair design was much larger than its predecessor, the Apollo Lunar Module, at almost five times the volume, occupying a total of 1,120 cubic feet (32 m3) compared with the Apollo lander's 235 cubic feet (6.7 m3). It was to stand 32 feet (9.8 m) tall and span 49 feet (15 m) wide from tip to tip of the landing gear. Like its predecessor, the Altair design consists of two parts: an ascent stage which houses the four-person crew; and a descent stage consisting of the landing gear, and storage for the majority of the crew's consumables (oxygen and water) and for scientific equipment. Unlike the Lunar Module, Altair was designed to land in the lunar polar regions favored by NASA for future lunar base construction. Altair, like the Lunar Module, was not designed to be reusable, and the ascent stage would be discarded after use.