The Northrop Grumman/Boeing team has defended the use of an Apollo-style design for NASA’s Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), arguing it offers the lowest technical risk to meeting a schedule calling for flights to the International Space Station by 2012 and to the Moon by 2018.
The team says its crew module will be larger than the Apollo spacecraft, carrying up to six crew, but only 10% heavier, with fault-tolerant dual systems; the ability to operate autonomously in lunar orbit for up to six months while the crew descends to the surface; more fuel for the return flight; and a land recovery using airbags, retrorockets or impact-absorbing material.
Source: Flight International
