Altair (spacecraft)
.jpg) Artist impression of the crewed version of Altair on the surface of the moon |
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| Description | |
| Role: | Lunar landing |
| Crew: | 4 |
| Dimensions | |
| Height: | 9.7 m (32 ft) |
| Diameter: | 7.5 m (25 ft) |
| Landing gear span: | 14.8 m (49 ft) |
| Volume: | 31.8 m3 (1,120 cu ft) |
| Masses | |
| Ascent module: | 10,809 kg (23,830 lb) |
| Descent module: | 35,055 kg (77,283 lb) |
| Total: | 45,864 kg (101,113 lb) |
| Rocket engines | |
| RCS | 445 N (100 lbf) |
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Ascent Propulsion System (LOX/LH2) RL-10 derivative x 1: |
44.5 kN (10,000 lbf) |
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Descent Propulsion System (LOX/LH2) RL-10 derivative x 4: |
66.7 kN (15,000 lbf) |
| Performance | |
| Endurance: | 7 days (Sortie missions) Up to 210 days (Outpost missions) |
| Payload (cargo mode): | 14,500 kg |
| Aposelene: | |
| Periselene: | Surface |
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The Altair spacecraft, previously known as the Lunar Surface Access Module or LSAM, was the planned lander spacecraft component of NASA's cancelled Project Constellation. Astronauts would have used the spacecraft for landings on the Moon, which was intended to begin around 2019. The Altair spacecraft was planned to be used both for lunar sortie and lunar outpost missions. On February 1, 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a proposal to cancel the Constellation program (except the Orion spacecraft), to be replaced with a re-scoped program, effective with the U.S. 2011 fiscal year budget.
On December 13, 2007, NASA's Lunar Surface Access Module was retitled "Altair", after the 12th brightest star in the northern hemisphere's night sky, Altair in the constellation Aquila. In Latin, aquila means "eagle", providing a connection to the first crewed lunar landing, Apollo 11's Eagle; the name Altair itself is a latinization of the Arabic الطائر al-ṭā'ir, meaning "the eagle," "the bird," or "the flyer."
Prior to the announcement of the "Altair" name, reports had suggested other names had been considered by NASA, but Altair won in a vote by the design team over Pegasus.
NASA developed only conceptual designs for Altair. No Altair spacecraft were built—plans called for a first landing on the Moon in 2018.
Like the Apollo Lunar Module (LM), Altair was envisioned as having two stages. The descent stage would have housed the majority of the fuel, power supplies, and breathing oxygen for the crew. The ascent stage would house the astronauts, life-support equipment, and fuel for the ascent-stage motor and steering rockets. Like the Apollo LM, the Altair's crew cabin was based on that of a cylinder. Initially a horizontal cylinder, like that of the LM (despite the "boxy" appearance on the outside), current blueprints and computer simulations show the use of a vertical cylinder. Unlike its two-man Apollo ancestor, Altair was designed to carry the entire four-person crew to the surface, while the temporarily unoccupied Orion crew module would have remained in lunar orbit.
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