NASA Ares I Launch Vehicle Roll and Reaction Control Systems Design Status

This paper provides an update of design status following the Preliminary Design Review of NASA’s Ares I First Stage Roll and Upper Stage Reaction Control Systems. The Ares I launch vehicle is the selected design, chosen to return humans to the moon, mars, and beyond. It consists of a first stage five segment solid rocket booster and an upper stage liquid bi-propellant J-2X engine. Similar to many launch vehicles, the Ares I has reaction control systems used to provide the vehicle with three degrees of freedom stabilization during the mission. During launch, the First Stage Roll Control System will provide the Ares I with the ability to counteract induced roll torque. After first stage booster separation, the Upper Stage Reaction Control System will provide the upper stage element with three degrees of freedom control as needed. Trade studies and design assessments conducted on the roll and reaction control systems include: propellant selection, thruster arrangement, pressurization system configuration, system component trades, and more. Since successful completion of the Preliminary Design Review, work has progressed towards the Critical Design Review with accomplishments made in the following areas: pressurant/propellant tanks, thruster assemblies, component configurations, as well as thruster module designs, and waterhammer mitigation approaches. Also, results from early development testing are discussed along with plans for upcoming system testing. This paper concludes by summarizing the process of down selecting to the current baseline configuration for the Ares I Roll and Reaction Control Systems.