cosmonauts in the early days of the “space race.” NASA followed Project Mercury with the Gemini program. Both the one-man Mercury capsule and two-man Gemini spacecraft were built by McDonnell Aircraft Corp., a Boeing heritage company. The larger Apollo spacecraft that followed, which was designed by another Boeing heritage company, North American Aviation, carried astronauts to the moon and back. After Apollo came the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs. Boeing was NASA’s prime con- tractor for designing and building the space station, and Boeing heritage company North American Rockwell was prime contractor for the shuttle. Another former Boeing division, Rocketdyne, built the shuttle’s main engines. The Commercial Crew vehicle that McKinney and other Boeing engineers are developing today includes many features borrowed from the Apollo spacecraft. This next chapter in human space exploration will take on challenges that require the best talent of this genera- tion, as well as young scientists and engineers who have not yet entered the workforce, according to Raftery. There is general agreement that the ultimate mission would be landing a crew on Mars, said Raftery, who is researching future space utilization and exploration. But a trip to the “red planet” would take roughly 10 months, and before such an expedition can be undertaken much must be learned about space technology and the effects of long-duration space travel on the human body. Today, a lively debate is under way, internationally and within the United States, over whether the first goal should be a base on the moon or a more distant expedition to explore an asteroid. A modern moon base would allow astronauts to stay on the moon for extended periods— good training for exploring Mars. “You couldn’t actually ‘land’ on an asteroid, as you would on the moon, because asteroids have virtually no gravity,” Raftery said. “But we do need to understand how crews are going to survive on a long trip outside the protection of Earth’s radiation belts. And we need to gain experience in longer- duration missions, which could eventually last one to two years.” Developing systems today for The Space Launch System is adaptable to any deep space voyage in the foreseeable future. Jim Chilton, vice president and program manager, Exploration Launch tomorrow’s space explorers Systems, said one of the primary uses of the Space Launch System will be to launch the Orion spacecraft. But the As NASA plans missions beyond low Earth orbit, Boeing is Space Launch System is intended as a multipurpose exploring concepts once limited to the stories of science fiction vehicle that will be in use for decades. writers and futurists. “The history of exploration is that we adapt the devices Advanced Space Exploration, a division of Boeing Phantom we have to new purposes as we develop new missions,” Works, is conducting studies on how people, structures and Chilton said. supplies might one day be transported to such distant locations The initial design will consist of two cryogenic stages, as Mars and the asteroids. using liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen for propulsion. In Steve Johnston, director, Advanced Space Exploration, said some respects, it will be similar to the Saturn V, which had his division has the job of developing new capabilities that will three cryogenic stages. The Space Launch System also allow the company to grow its space exploration business to borrows some ideas from the space shuttle, including two meet the needs of NASA and emerging markets. His team serves solid fuel boosters to add to the thrust at liftoff. As missions as a bridge between existing programs and long-range planners, become more demanding and complex, it will evolve to such as Space Exploration’s Mike Raftery, who are developing meet those challenges, Chilton said. long-range space exploration concepts. The first unmanned launch of the Space Launch System “We work pretty closely with Space Exploration to better under- 28 BOEING FRONTIERS / OCTOBER 2012
Frontiers October 2012 Issue
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