Lockheed Martin's design for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) is a four to six-man lifting body that would split into two sections in the event of a catastrophic launch abort. Launched atop an expendable launch vehicle (ELV), the 9.65m (32ft) -long lifting body would provide enough cross range for landing location flexibility and reduce the g forces experienced by the crew.
The reduced g force would ease atmospheric re-entry for lunar return and launch abort scenarios. In the event of a catastrophic launch failure, the 6.6m top section of the CEV, known as the rescue vehicle, would detach and bring the crew safely to Earth by parachute. Airbags would also be used to land and the CEV would use flotation devices for a water landing. To go to the Moon, the CEV would dock with a Mission Module and a rocket motor stage known as the Trans Earth Injection module, which would be launched together by another ELV. That assembly would dock with the Earth Departure Stage, another rocket motor, and the Lunar Surface Access Module.
Source: Flight International
