Human Lunar missions and other exploration opportunities enabled by the Space Launch System

Author

Donahue, Benjamin

Author_Institution

Boeing Exploration Launch Syst., Huntsville, AL, USA

fYear

2015

fDate

7-14 March 2015

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

11

Abstract

The Space Launch System (SLS) Program is making progress toward delivering a new capability for Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) exploration. Developed with the goals of safety, affordability and sustainability, SLS will start with 10% more thrust than the Saturn V that launched astronauts to the Moon 40 years ago. From there it will evolve into the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown, via an evolutionary approach that will provide building blocks for future space exploration. The SLS provides a critical heavy-lift launch capability enabling Crewed Lunar exploration and diverse deep space missions. In this paper SLS capabilities are described.

Keywords

aerospace safety; evolutionary computation; BEO; SLS program; Saturn V; beyond earth orbit exploration; crewed lunar exploration; critical heavy-lift launch capability; deep space missions; evolutionary approach; future space exploration; human lunar exploration; human lunar missions; launch vehicle; space launch system; Jupiter; Mars; Moon; Payloads; Saturn; Telescopes; Trajectory;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2015 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

Print_ISBN

978-1-4799-5379-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2015.7118877

Filename

7118877