The Ares I is the propulsion package that will carry the Orion manned and unmanned spacecraft into space (Please see the Crew Exploration Vehicle/Orion exhibit in the museum to see the payloads). Utilizing technology developed in the Apollo and Shuttle programs, the Ares I is a staging rocket - that is, each section provides stages of propulsion. When the lower engine's fuel is expended, it drops off and the stage above it ignites. The process repeats until the payload attains enough momentum to reach the desired trajectory.
Ares I is a two-stage rocket: stage one is a five-segment solid rocket booster (as used on the Shuttle), and the second stage is a single JX-2 liquid fuel engine in the center (derived from the Saturn rockets that lifted Apollo). Unlike the onboard main engines in the Shuttle, the JX-2 will not ignite until after launch, somewhere in near vacuum conditions.
Specifications:
* Length: 93 meters (309 ft)
* Gross liftoff weight: 900 metric tons (~2,000,000 lb)
* Payload weight: ~25 metric tons (55,000 lb)
Testing of this rocket is currently underway in facilities north of Huntsville, Alabama, USA.
For more information:
Author(s): Leonard Churchill (2007 January 17)
Editors(s): Helio Huet (2007 June 5)
