The Future of Space Exploration

NASA wants the Orion CEV to be versatile for future space
exploration. They project that it will be able to transport
crews to the International Space Station by 2014, the moon by
2020. Mars will be the next goal.

The main objective of the CEV is a return to the moon. During
the design stage of the Apollo, there were two proposals to
put man on the moon:

* The Earth Orbit Rendezvous (EOR) - pieces of a large
moon rocket would be assembled in Earth orbit and launched to
the moon
* The Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) - two smaller
spacecraft (command/service module and lunar module) would
meet in lunar orbit

Scientists eventually agreed that the LOR approach would save
more weight and achieve President John F. Kennedy's goal of
landing a man on the moon within 10 years. The flight plan
for the CEV return to the moon incorporates elements of both
the EOR and the LOR.

The CEV lunar missions will establish a lunar base to explore
the moon and search for water at the moon's South Pole
(necessary for surviving on the moon and a potential source
of material to make rocket fuel). They will also allow
astronauts to test equipment and techniques for future
missions to Mars. Since the moon is only three days away, it
is safer and less expensive to launch missions to Mars from
there. A rescue mission would also be easier for a lunar
mission than a Mars mission. The CEV will serve as a model
for designing other deep space, manned spacecraft.

With the CEV, NASA hopes to return astronauts to the moon and
make real the dream of sending humans to explore Mars and the
rest of the solar system.