A bottom-view schematic of the second Aries spacecraft. Note the auto-land system in the direct center and the Mk 14 thruster groups.
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Boeing
Type: High-Capacity Commercial Lunar Transport
Service Entry: 5/19/98
Number in Service: 2
Overall Height (with landing gear): 15.5 m.
Loaded Weight: 46,950 Kg.
Passenger Capacity: 26
Crew: 4 (Pilot, Co-Pilot, two flight attendants)
Entertainment Facilities: Four windscreen CRT displays.
Cockpit: Three seats (Pilot, Co-Pilot, Passenger.) Four LCD displays. One landing display. 18 overhead status displays. Advanced "glass cockpit" design utilizes many automated systems and display screens, making it virtually free of switches and buttons.
Propulsion Systems: 76 Mk 14 thrusters, grouped in four sets of 19. 125 Kg. Thrust each. 16 maneuvering thrusters, grouped in four sets of four each. Blast deflector plates.
Features: Grumman Aerospace Life-support system, housed below Cargo deck. Whirlpool food dispenser. IBM 3500 Computer system on cockpit deck. Circuit Breaker control room. Luggage and Cargo storage racks. Dual-role Docking hatch and entry airlock. An auto-land system is mounted between the four main thruster groups.
Technical Notes: (Frederick Ordway and the British Interplanetary Association)
The Aries IB incorporates a variety of sophisticated electronic computer, guidance, docking, automated kitchen, communications, and other equipment, much of it developed with the assistance of IBM, Honeywell, RCA, General Electric, and other firms. IBM's computer panels, for example, contain as primary functions a variety of user terms, e.g., navigation, and docking. Many data are processed on a routine basis, but occasionally there is a call for "priority interrupt". The program is loaded and the appropriate button, say "propulsion", is depressed. On the screen the words "propulsion program loaded--indicate requirements" might appear, followed by a series of major category statements, e.g., propellant analysis, predicted propellant utilization, and tank pressures. The astronaut would then depress the appropriate button on the keyboard, say No. 2, and would enter "require predicted utilization for next 3.8 hours based on (1) current rate, (2) revised rate if No. 3 engine thrust is increased 0.96 per cent." This would be a "routine" under the "predicted utilization" subcategory, illustrating man-machine interface as the computer assists the crew throughout the sequence.
IBM recommended that the main on-board computer be supported by backup computers. A light goes on when the main computer is either overloaded or cannot process the desired requests. It then automatically addresses backup computer No. 1, whose indicator light goes green if it can accept the request. If not, backup computer No. 2 is interrogated.
Other major elements of the Aries IB computers are tasks in execution, systems mode, integrated checkout, narrative instructions, digital entry, program status (display energize, memory load, error check, etc.), various data review modes, instrument self-test, condition display, diagnostic, program mode (e.g., conversation mode keyboard, conversation mode oral), message assembly, readiness checkout sequence, service equipment control verification (with selected sequences), alarm conditions (with selected stations indicated), and verification routine.
