spacetoday.net: NASA renames exploration launch vehicles

NASA renames exploration launch vehicles

Posted: Sun, Jul 2, 2006, 12:21 PM ET (1621 GMT)
Ares launch vehicles (NASA)

NASA has assigned new names to the two large launch vehicles that the agency plans to develop to carry out the Vision for Space Exploration. The Crew Launch Vehicle, the rocket that will be used to launch the Crew Exploration Vehicle, has been renamed the Ares 1, while the larger Cargo Launch Vehicle, which will carry the lunar module and upper stage needed for manned mission to the Moon, will be named the Ares 5. NASA officials explained that the name Ares—the Greek name for the god of war Mars—is intended to identify the long-term goal of the Vision for Space Exploration, manned missions to Mars, while the "1" and "5" designations honor the Saturn 1 and 5 rockets developed in the 1960s for the Apollo program.