Starting in (hopefully) 2014, they will start using the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), sorta like an Apollo capsule on steroids. Here's a peek at its heat shield, to give you an idea of just how 'roided out it is:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/p ... html/1.stm
Wiki says:
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_spacecraftOrion is a spacecraft design currently under development by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Each Orion spacecraft will carry a crew of four to six astronauts, and will be launched by the Ares I, a launch vehicle also currently under development. Both Orion and Ares I are elements of NASA's Project Constellation, which plans to send human explorers back to the Moon by 2020, and then onward to Mars and other destinations in the solar system. On August 31, 2006, NASA awarded Lockheed Martin (LM) the contract to design, develop, and build Orion.
Orion will launch from Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center, the same launch complex that currently launches the Space Shuttle. NASA will use Orion spacecraft for its human spaceflight missions after the last Shuttle orbiter is retired in 2010. Orion is scheduled initially to handle logistic flights to the International Space Station starting at the end of 2014 or beginning of 2015, and after that is to become a key component of missions to the Moon and Mars.
By the way, the Orion logo/mission patch was designed by Star Trek's Michael Okuda:
Here's some info on the Ares I launch system:
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares_IAres I is the crew launch vehicle being developed by NASA as a component of Project Constellation. NASA will use Ares I to launch Orion, the spacecraft being designed for NASA human spaceflight missions after the Space Shuttle is retired in 2010. Ares I was previously known as the Crew Launch Vehicle or CLV. The larger, unmanned Ares V is being designed as a complement to the Ares I; it will be the cargo launch vehicle for Project Constellation. Ares I and V are named after the Greek deity Ares, who is identified with the Roman god Mars.
A comparison of Ares V (left) and Ares I (right), both of which obviously make use of existing Space Shuttle technology:
And a size comparison with Saturn V and the Space Shuttle:
The Ares logo:
(I don't know who designed this one.)
And finally, the overarching Project Constellation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Constellation
lswot
