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The Ares I crew launch vehicle can lift more than 55,000 pounds to low Earth orbit. The Ares V cargo launch vehicle can carry about 290,000 pounds to low Earth orbit and 144,000 pounds to lunar orbit.
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| | NASA Conducts Second Test of Ares Rockets' Main Parachute
 Image above: Second test of the parachute system that will allow Ares I and Ares V first stage boosters to be recovered and reused.
Image Credit: NASA/MSFC
Validating an earlier test conducted in September, NASA and industry engineers on Thursday successfully tested the main parachute for Constellation Program rockets. Outfitted with a 42,000-pound weight, the parachute was dropped from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft flying at an altitude of 16,500 feet. The one-ton parachute and all supporting hardware functioned properly, landing safely approximately three minutes later at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Ariz. The parachute system will allow Ares I and Ares V first stage boosters to be recovered and reused.
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| |  NASA's Ares rockets, named for the Greek god associated with Mars, will return humans to the moon and later take them to Mars and other destinations.
Image left: Artist concept of the Ares I, left, and Ares V. Image Credit: NASA
Future astronauts will ride to orbit on Ares I, which uses a single five-segment solid rocket booster, a derivative of the space shuttle's solid rocket booster, for the first stage. A liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen J-2X engine derived from the J-2 engine used on Apollo's second stage will power the crew exploration vehicle's second stage. The Ares I can lift more than 55,000 pounds to low Earth orbit.
Ares V, a heavy lift launch vehicle, will use five RS-68 liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen 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 Ares V can lift more than 286,000 pounds to low Earth orbit and stands approximately 360 feet tall. This versatile system will be used to carry cargo and the components into orbit needed to go to the moon and later to Mars.
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+ More on Ares V
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| | 07.02.08 - NASA Debuts Web Site for First Ares Test Flight
NASA is developing new spacecraft, the Ares rockets and Orion crew capsule, to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and send them on their way to the moon.
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| | 06.12.08 - NASA Awards Contract for Constellation Spacesuit for the Moon
NASA has awarded a contract to Oceaneering International Inc. of Houston, for the design, development and production of a new spacesuit system.
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| | NASA Completes Review Milestone for Ares I First Stage
NASA has completed the preliminary design review for the first stage of the Ares I rocket -- giving overall approval for the agency's technical design approach.
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| Well Suited for Space
At the bottom of NASA’s 40-foot-deep swimming pool – known as the Neutral Buoyancy Lab – astronauts strap on weights and plastic piping to simulate the backpack that attaches to a spacesuit.
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| Neither Rain Nor Sleet Will Stop NASA's Ares Rockets
NASA engineer Barry Roberts wants to help build a better rocket that can fly despite record low temperatures, hail, or rain.
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| NASA's Airbag Drop Tests in Full Swing
Second generation airbag drop testing is underway at the Landing and Impact Research Facility at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
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