NASA plans to develop a host of spacecraft and booster vehicles in order
to replace the Space Shuttle and send astronauts to the Moon and
possibly to Mars as well. Currently, NASA is in the process of designing
two boosters, the Ares I and Ares V. Ares I will have the sole function
of launching mission crews into orbit. Ares V will be designed to
launch other hardware for use on missions and will have a heavier lift
capacity than the Ares I booster. In addition to these two boosters,
NASA is designing a set of other spacecraft for use during
Constellation. These will include the Orion crew capsule, the Earth
Departure Stage and the Altair lunar lander.
