Ares I / Orion CEV
by RundownPear
uploaded 2020-09-09
156 downloads /
4
points
VAB
stock+DLC ship
#Apollo #Space #Shuttle #Saturn #V

Description

The Ares I or CLV (crewed launch vehicle) was deigned to be NASA’s next generation crewed launch vehicle under the Constellation program. During it’s development from 2004-2010, it costs over 6 billion USD. It was designed to carry the Orion CEV, later renamed Orion MPCV, to the Earth Departure stage that would take it to the moon or to resupply the ISS. It was cancelled in 2010 by the Obama administration after the Augustine Commission discovered significant cost overruns and delays surrounding the Constellation program and the Ares I as well as the Ares V were scrapped. It was replaced by the commercial crew program where vehicles such as the SpaceX Falcon 9 fly crews to and from the ISS for around 200 million USD a flight, much cheaper than the Ares I’s price of 1.6 billion per flight.

Details

  • Type: VAB
  • Class: ship
  • Part Count: 74
  • Pure Stock
  • KSP: 1.10.1

Orion CEV

The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle was initially designed to service the International Space Station as well as travel to the moon and beyond. The original design included a command module and service module both built by Lockheed Martin. Initially it was to touchdown on land but that was eventually changed to a splash-down to save on weight. Following the Constellation Programs cancellation in 2010 the Orion CEV was converted too the Orion MPCV which would use the European Service Module rather than Lockheeds design. This as well as the Ares IV, which would be modified into the SLS, were the only parts of the program to survive its cancellation. On lunar flights it would rendezvous with he Earth Departure Stage and Altair launched by he Ares V and together the complex would travel to the moon, with the Altair breaking the two vehicles into lunar orbit.

Earth Departure Stage / Altair / Ares V

The Ares I / Orion was only one half of the Constellation programs lunar architecture. The Earth departure stage which would perform the TLI and the Altair which would land and take off from the lunar surface would have been launched separately on the Ares V CaLV. Which can be downloaded here -> https://kerbalx.com/RundownPear/Ares-V–Altair-LSAM

Notes

This was a lot of fun building. I decided to go with an older ~2006 Orion design with rectangular solar panels as they are way easier to make than the 2009 circular ones. The margin for the Ares I is pretty good but the Orion has just enough fuel to rendezvous with the EDS / Altair and return from lunar orbit so fly smart. The SRB 1st stage is actually 2 SRBs clipped together in order to get enough thrust. The original design only used 1 SRB and was able to get into orbit but not consistently so whatever. Obviously this looks way better with he Restock mod so I highly recommend that.

A stock rocket called Ares I / CLV. Built with 74 of the finest parts, its root part is Pollux.

Built in the VAB in KSP version 1.10.1.

RundownPear

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