Atlas V Seeks NASA Man Rating Certification to Launch Commercial Spacecraft (ContributorNetwork)

The Atlas V has racked up another launch success with its lofting of the Curiosity Mars rover toward the Red Planet. Shortly, though, the launch vehicle may be tasked with a new mission, to launch manned space craft.

What is the Atlas V?

The Atlas V, along with the Delta IV, was developed under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program by Lockheed Martin to be a launch vehicle for commercial, NASA, and defense department payloads. Its first launch was on Aug. 21, 2002. Except for an anomaly that occurred on June 15, 2007, in which an engine shut down early, the Atlas V has had a complete success record in almost 30 launches.

The Atlas V comes in a variety of versions, depending on the size of the payload fairing (4 or 5 meters), the number of solid rocket boosters attached, and the type of upper stage Centaur rocket is used. The first two stages are powered by an RD-180 engine. The Centaur upper stage is powered by a RL10A engine.

The Atlas V has lofted a number of notable payloads, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Juno Jupiter orbiter, the New Horizons Pluto flyby probe, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbit, as well as a number of military and commercial satellites.

Why man rate the Atlas V?

Under the commercial crew program designed to create private space craft, only SpaceX, with its Falcon 9, has its own launch vehicles. The other participants, Boeing, SpaceDev, and Blue Origin, are looking at commercially available launch vehicles to loft their proposed spacecraft to low Earth orbit. The Atlas V is one of the launch vehicles being looked at for that purpose.

What does it mean to man rate a launch vehicle?

What makes a launch vehicle "man rated" is a subject of great argument in aerospace circles. It is generally defined as making a launch vehicle safe for human use. NASA's requirements for man rating a launch vehicle are quite stringent, requiring a reduction in the possibility of catastrophic failure, an elimination of the possibility of human error, and a reduction of crew workload (i.e. events during launch that would contribute to the fatigue of the astronauts) to what it regards as an acceptable level.

How would an Atlas V be certified as man rated?

A study conducted by NASA rejected a modified version of the Atlas V to launch the Orion space craft into low Earth orbit due to the existence of "black zones" or periods in which an abort would be impossible during a launch. Subsequent studies by Lockheed Martin suggested that a lighter space craft, on the order of those planned by the participants in the commercial crew program, would eliminate those black zones entirely.

The Atlas V's near perfect launch record gives it an inside track to gaining the coveted man rating certification. The adding of an emergency detection system as well as proven escape systems for the space craft payloads is the major milestone to getting that certification.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times and The Weekly Standard.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111127/us_ac/10535113_atlas_v_seeks_nasa_man_rating_certification_to_launch_commercial_spacecraft

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