Everything Science Forum

NASA has awarded Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc. of Canoga Park, Calif., a letter contract with a maximum value of $50 million to initiate design, development, test and evaluation of the J-2X engine for the agency's crew and cargo launch vehicles.

The J-2X engine is planned to power the crew launch vehicle's upper stage and the Earth departure stage of the cargo launch vehicle. Development of the crew and cargo launch vehicles is led by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., in partnership with other agency centers. It is managed by the Constellation Program Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, for the agency's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/jun/HQ_06032_J2X_engine_selection.html

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s J-2X Engine Named to Power CLV Upper Stage (http://www.pratt-whitney.com/pr_060806a.asp)

CANOGA PARK, Calif., June 8, 2006 – Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), a business unit of United Technologies Corp. [NYSE:UTX], has been selected by NASA to provide a new version of its Apollo-era J-2 as the propulsion system for the agency’s Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) upper stage in the next decade.

Up-rated in power and designated the J-2X, the hydrogen/oxygen-fueled engine will be rated for human flight. The first launch of a human aboard the J-2X-powered CLV is planned for 2012. The NASA baseline effort calls for seven development engines, two certification engines and one flight-only engine.

NASA based its decision on the J-2’s performance history as part of the Apollo program, and the fact that the agency could utilize an engine in this thrust class for both the CLV upper stage job and, in the future, to power the Earth Departure Stage (EDS) for lunar missions that will be lofted on the planned Cargo Launch Vehicle (CaLV).

J-2 derivative turbomachinery was used for the powerpack in the XRS-2200 aerospike development engine for the X-33, which was hot-fire tested in 2000, demonstrating PWR’s ability to build and integrate the hardware. The agency also cited PWR’s long experience in the development of major booster engines as credentials for producing the new J-2X.

See also -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-2_(rocket_engine)

Crew Launch Vehicle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Launch_Vehicle

On March 1st, 2006, the CLV was given the preliminary name Ares I. The CEV was given the name Altair (it was originally proposed that the CEV be named "Apollo", indicating its position as a moon-rocket successor to the original Apollo program). It should be noted that the LSAM will be called Artemis. NASA has also announced that ATK Thiokol, the current builders of the Shuttle SRBs, will be the prime contractor for both stages of the CLV. Rocketdyne, a division of Pratt & Whitney, and formerly of Rockwell International (formerly North American Aviation) and Boeing, will be the main subcontractor for the J-2X rocket engine.

Cargo Launch Vehicle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_Launch_Vehicle

I guess as things pickup, we'll see more details.

Well, apparently, NASA has made it official.

NASA announced on Friday (June 30) the names of the next generation of launch vehicles that will return humans to the moon and later take them to Mars and other destinations. The crew launch vehicle (CLV) will be called Ares I, and the cargo launch vehicle (CaLV) will be known as Ares V.

The crew exploration vehicle, which will succeed the space shuttle as NASA's spacecraft for human space exploration, will be named later. This vehicle will be carried into space by Ares I, which uses a single five-segment solid rocket booster, a derivative of the space shuttle's solid rocket booster, for the first stage. A liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen J-2X engine derived from the J-2 engine used on Apollo's second stage will power the crew exploration vehicle's second stage. The Ares I can lift more than 55,000 pounds to low Earth orbit.

Ares V, a heavy lift launch vehicle, will use five RS-68 liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen engines mounted below a larger version of the space shuttle's external tank, and two five-segment solid propellant rocket boosters for the first stage. The upper stage will use the same J-2X engine as the Ares I. The Ares V can lift more than 286,000 pounds to low Earth orbit and stands approximately 360 feet tall. This versatile system will be used to carry cargo and the components into orbit needed to go to the moon and later to Mars.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/spacecraft/ares_naming.html

Ares I Fact Sheet
http://search1.nasa.gov/pdf/151419main_aresI_factsheet.pdf (best to use 'save target as')

Ares V Fact Sheet
http://search1.nasa.gov/pdf/151420main_aresV_factsheet.pdf (use 'save target as')

See RS-68 (http://www.everything-science.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,82/topic,6042.msg57575#msg57575) discussion in the Aerospace Engineering forum.

Ares I begins design phase.

The AP (12/13) reports that reports that Boeing will begin implementing its designs for the "avionics system that will control the Ares I rocket," part of the next NASA vehicle "to send astronauts back to the moon." This marks the "the final major contract" in the development of the rocket. The AP explains, "The avionics are considered the 'brains' of the Ares I rocket and will provide guidance, navigation and control for the rocket until it reaches orbit. The system is also responsible for managing vehicle health," as well as "reporting to flight controllers" at the stages of "engine shut down and first stage separation." 
The Houston Chronicle (12/13, Carreau) explains that the avionics system contract is part of "a $13.6 billion contractor lineup for the new moon ship that will replace the space shuttle." Funding has been an issue for the shuttle replacement project. "At current funding levels, NASA plans to begin flights of Orion to the space station with six astronauts in March 2015." However, "[f]lights to the space station could begin as soon as September 2013, if the administration and Congress increase funding." Regardless, Constellation program manager Jeff Hanley said, awarding the final contract "will now allow us to go to the preliminary design phase with a full team in the new year and begin to build and test this new system." 
 
"Boeing Co. will use NASA's Michoud Assembly Center in New Orleans to produce an avionics system that will control the Ares I rocket intended to send astronauts back to the moon," according to a separate AP article (12/13, Sayre). "During the 1960s, Boeing used Michoud to produce the first stage of the Saturn booster, a key component of the Apollo program that first took astronauts to the moon."