Orion 15
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This article or section contains information regarding a future spaceflight. Due to the nature of the content, details may change dramatically as the launch date approaches and/or more information becomes available. |
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| Mission name: | Orion 15 & LSAM 5 | ||||
| Launch pad: | Launch Pad 39B | ||||
| Launch: | TBD | ||||
| Landing: | TBD | ||||
| Duration: | ~21 days | ||||
| Orbit altitude: | ~65 nautical miles (~105 km) in lunar orbit | ||||
| Orbit inclination: | ~0 to 60 degrees | ||||
| Distance traveled: | TBD | ||||
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Orion 15 is a planned NASA mission that will see the third Constellation lunar landing in conjunction with the LSAM 5, making this flight the ninth lunar landing conducted by NASA since July 20, 1969 (the six Apollo landings plus, if successful, the two previous Constellation landings).
Although currently not part of the initial fourteen mission schedule released in 2006, Orion 15/LSAM 5 will most likely be the first mission conducted by NASA in which all four crew members land on the lunar surface in LSAM 5, while the Orion 15 spacecraft is left unmanned in lunar orbit. This will allow NASA the opportunity to fly more scientist-astronauts, and even educator-astronauts, or international astronauts from the current major International Space Station partners (Russia, Japan, European Space Agency, and Canada).
Unlike the Apollo practice of "cross-training" pilot-astronauts to carry out science research (and vice-versa for Apollo-era scientist-astronauts, with military pilot training), this practice of sending two pilot-astronauts and two scientist, educator, or foreign astronauts onto the Moon (as Orion 13/LSAM 3 and Orion 14/LSAM 4 would require three pilot-astronauts due to the need to keep the Orion occupied in lunar orbit) would allow NASA to return a higher yield in lunar science and engineering, as scientist-astronauts (in particular geologists) would be able to detect details on the surface that may be missed by a cross-trained pilot-astronaut.
The mission is planned to last approximately 21 days. Orion 15 will be launched by an Ares I from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39B. It will dock in Low Earth Orbit with a package made of an Earth Departure Stage (EDS) and the fourth LSAM. This package will have been launched in June, 2020 atop of the heavy-lift Ares V rocket. The space assembly will be then be injected towards the Moon by the EDS.
