Moon Rocket Design Gets Thumbs-Up, but Hurdles Remain for NASA

The scoop: NASA is hustling to get its new Ares crew rocket launching people into space by 2015. But as with all pieces of $100 billion moon-bound projects, there are some hurdles to overcome.

Dave on Earth (10:16 AM): Hi, is this Steve Cook?

NASABack2theMoon (10:16 AM): Yes it is.

Dave on Earth (10:16 AM): Great -- heard you were running a bit late this morning. Traffic? Forgot to set your alarm? Your lunch?

NASABack2theMoon (10:17 AM): There is no traffic in Huntspatch!
You've got to love doctors -- they have their own schedules.

Dave on Earth (10:17 AM): Huntspatch?

NASABack2theMoon (10:18 AM): It's short for Huntsville -- since it's in the middle of cotton farms. Local slang.

Dave on Earth (10:18 AM): Ah, gotcha.
So, Steve -- can you explain to me in a sentence what it is that you do for a living?

NASABack2theMoon (10:19 AM): Glad to -- I'm the manager of the Ares projects, which are NASA's newest rockets.
The Ares I and V will take us to the moon and beyond.

Dave on Earth (10:20 AM): How did you get into, well, managing rockets? Seems like a pretty rare job to have.

NASABack2theMoon (10:22 AM): I'm an aerospace engineer by training -- graduated from the University of Minnesota about 18 years ago, then came to NASA.
I arrived at this job starting as a journeyman engineer, working on several advanced technology projects.
Since I was a kid, I always wanted to work for NASA -- I remember watching Apollo 17 and knew that's what I wanted to do.

Dave on Earth (10:24 AM): Thanks. Right now there's a lot of work being done on Ares I, and you guys just finished a big "preliminary design review."
I'm not one for technical terms, so what exactly does that mean? And why is it such a big deal?

NASABack2theMoon (10:26 AM): Right. We are into the development of Ares I which will carry the Orion capsule -- the spacecraft which carries the astronauts.
The preliminary design review is a very important milestone (the first in 35 years for NASA -- since the space shuttle). It indicates that our design is sound and can meet our requirements.
We're also testing many components across the country and are starting to get our production systems in place.

Dave on Earth (10:26 AM): Ever feel a little stressed out about putting the pieces of the Constellation project together?
After all, it is rocket science...

NASABack2theMoon (10:27 AM): Sometime, but we have a great team -- some of the best and brightest in the business -- that makes this job a lot easier and lets me sleep at night.

Dave on Earth (10:28 AM): In 2007, a big problem with the design of Ares I was found -- it could vibrate to pieces early in launch.
How is the tackling of that problem going?
And my follow-up: Are there any other similar challenges facing the designers of this rocket?

NASABack2theMoon (10:30 AM): Correct -- it's called thrust oscillation. It's actually a phenomenon that occurs in all solid rockets, and the good news is we found the trouble very early in the design process.
We have a solution: we'll place "shock absorbers" in a couple of places to smooth out the ride for the astronauts.
Similar technology is used today to give sensitive spacecraft a smooth ride to space.
As for the other challenges, we are developing the J-2X engine for the second stage of the rocket (which will share some heritage with the Apollo Saturn V rocket).
Such developments have always been our tall poles in the tent, and we got this off to a quick start.
Also, we need to get the production of our second stage in place and verified.

Dave on Earth (10:35 AM): I see -- so you have a new engine you need to run through the grinders.
Speaking of "new," I've heard criticisms out there that NASA should have recycled some existing systems/technology (the space shuttle, for example) rather than designing a new system such as Ares.
Obviously it's a bit late to change the agency's mind, but why is NASA going with something new?

NASABack2theMoon (10:38 AM): Actually, we are "recycling" -- the first stage of Ares I is a direct derivative of the Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters.
And as I mentioned, the J-2X rocket engine has its heritage in the original Saturn program. The upper stage is even being manufactured at the same plant we build the Space Shuttle's external tank today.
We looked at using the Space Shuttle main engines, but they were actually a more costly proposition. After looking at hundreds of launch vehicle combinations and comparing their cost, safety, reliability and performance, we decided on Ares.

Dave on Earth (10:41 AM): Thanks. So you're recycling some pieces, creating new ones.
Overall, what's going to be different about Ares compared to rockets of similar caliber?

NASABack2theMoon (10:44 AM): Well -- if we compare to the space shuttle, the crew vehicle is separate from the cargo vehicle (Ares I vs. Ares V).
In addition, the Orion -- the astronaut's spacecraft -- rides on top, keeping it out of the path of debris (Columbia lesson) and with an abort motor that allows us to safely pull the crew away from Ares in case of an emergency.
Also, the Ares V will have the ability to send 71 metric tons on the way to the moon. For comparison, the Saturn V -- the largest vehicle ever built -- sent 45 metric tons.

Dave on Earth (10:46 AM): That is indeed some heavy lifting... about 1/4 the mass of the space station when it's finished, if I'm not mistaken.

NASABack2theMoon (10:48 AM): Correct. We'll use the extra mass to send four-person crew to the surface of the moon versus two in Apollo. We can also spend up to a week at a time on initial missions versus a couple of days on Apollo.
And we can go anywhere on the lunar surface versus the mid-latitudes (as was the case on Apollo).

Dave on Earth (10:50 AM): What's the timeline for rolling out these rockets?