William Atkins
Sunday, 01 March 2009 22:16
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 5
The tenth mission would most likely be, if approved, a mission to deliver a particle physics experiment (the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer) to the Space Station.
This mission would allow astronomers to search the universe for such exotic materials as dark matter and antimatter.
If approved, the cosmic ray-search mission would most likely be scheduled in 2011.
More information on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer mission is found on the December 2, 2007 iTWire article “
Will NASA launch Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer?”
By retiring the Space Shuttle fleet in 2010, NASA will be able to move quickly ahead in developing its new Project Constellation, which consists primarily of Orion space capsules, Ares I and V launch vehicles, and Altair lunar landers, for missions to the International Space Station, the Moon, and eventually to Mars.
However, Obama’s announcement on Thursday did not specifically state that Constellation would include the Ares rocket.
Some experts are speculating that the Obama Administration is thinking about scraping the Ares rocket in favor of currently existing rockets such as the Delta or Atlas series.
That announcement should be forecoming since the first Ares test is coming up next year in 2010.
Page three provides comment from a space policy expert on the decision to use Ares, Delta, or Atlas for the launch vehicles for the new manned space program.
