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NASA is planning and designing hardware and propulsion systems for the Ares V cargo launch vehicle -- the "heavy lifter" of America's next-generation space fleet. During launch, the Ares V first stage and core propulsion stage power it upward toward Earth orbit. After separation from the spent core stage, the upper stage -- also known as the Earth Departure Stage -- takes over, and by a J-2X engine puts the vehicle into a circular orbit. The cargo vehicle's propulsion system can lift heavy structures and hardware to orbit or fire its engines for trans-lunar injection, a trajectory designed to intersect with the moon. Such lift capabilities will enable NASA to carry a variety of robust science and exploration payloads to space and could possibly take future crews to Mars and beyond. The first crewed lunar excursion is scheduled to occur by 2020.

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Credits:	NASA
URL:	http://www.earbot.com
Tags:	ares launch nasa science space

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