What’s going on with the space programs of the U.S.?
A few years ago there was talks about going back to the moon, for instance.
Also, there were plans to replace the space shuttle.
Today, the space suttle are being landed and nothing is replacing them, isn’t?
What happened next? Anybody knows what’s going on?
In 2004, Mr. Bush called for a program to get back to the Moon and eventually to reach Mars.
The plan, established around 2005, was a program called http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Constellation. It was supposed to send people to low Earth orbit (LEO) using a (possibly reusable) capsule called Orion, on top of a disposable rocket called Ares I. Ares I was basically a lengthened version of the solid rocket boosters that flank current Shuttles at liftoff. It is unusual to use a single solid-propellant rocket to boost a manned capsule into orbit, partly because of thrust oscillations that could incapacitate or injure crew members. So mechanisms were added, weight increased, capabilities had to be removed to keep the weight down, etc.
Orion missions would visit the International Space Station (ISS), but design complications delayed the projected initial operational capability further and further. Shuttles were to stop flying in 2010, but the first operational Orion wouldn’t come until about 2015 or 2016. Astronauts would use Russian Soyuz capsules to reach the ISS between 2010 and 2015. Once Orion was operational, the budget only allowed a few flights to the ISS. But the lifetime of the ISS itself was also limited, with termination scheduled around… 2016.
Constellation also called for an eventual return to the Moon, using a large lunar lander called Altair, in combination with an Orion capsule. The lander and Earth departure stage (EDS) were to be launched by a large, unmanned rocket (a heavy lift vehicle, or HLV) called Ares V. Ares V was originally meant to reuse Shuttle hardware and infrastructure as much as possible. However, the Ares V quickly grew to humongous size and weight, and drifted further and further away from the Shuttle hardware, which increased the projected costs and delays.
Constellation was increasingly perceived as a jobs-creation program that wasn’t going to survive budget cuts and successive administration changes to eventually reach the Moon.
Then the financial crisis happened. Then the administration changed.
When Mr. Obama took office, he formed the Augustine commission to decide the future of the U.S. manned space program, and whether Constellation was a viable way forward. The commission looked at Constellation and alternatives, and eventually recommended a number of changes.
(In the meantime, a prototype rocket called Ares IX was launched successfully, but it was pretty different from the “real” planned Ares I which wasn’t due to fly for a few years.)
Mr. Obama eventually announced that the Constellation program was pretty much cancelled. Orion capsules were to be redesigned as lifeboats for the ISS, Ares I was mostly cancelled, and NASA was to investigate development of HLV-class rockets that would be different from Ares V and reuse Shuttle hardware as much as possible. An effort was announced to encourage private companies to design/launch/operate manned space vehicles that could be used to deliver crews to the ISS. The life of the ISS itself was officially extended to 2020.
So it seems unlikely that U.S. astronauts will return to the Moon within the next 15 years, and they will probably be hitching rides on Soyuz vehicles for the next 5 years at least.
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme is still on course for the moon.
Chang’e 1 was launched in 2007 to map the moon. It entered orbit and for over a year produced some pretty good photos of the moon.
Chang’e 2 was launched six months ago. It also mapped the moon, but from a lower 100km orbit and using higher quality cameras.
Chang’e 3 isn’t an orbiter, it’s a lander and rover scheduled for 2013. With Chang’e 4 also being a rover that will land a little after Chang’e 3.
Chang’e 5 is a sample return mission. A robot that’ll grab a few kilos of moon rock and return it to earth.
Around 2025 - 2030 China plans to have men on the moon.
Also other parts of the Chinese space programme have other aims besides the moon. In 2013 a Chinese-Russian space probe is going to Mars.
China has managed to launched a few people into space on its own. They’ve already done a space walk. And this year they’re planning to perform a docking in space. And next year they’ll dock together three space craft to make a Chinese space station that should stay in orbit around earth for two years.
In short, China is putting a lot of effort into space, and despite starting decades behind the USSR/Russia and the US, they’re catching up fast.