images

CEV-Soyuz joint mission

by

Walter B. Myers/Novapix

Reference

e-exl01-20082

Date

2012-11-18

A 3-man Soyuz TMA-M prepares to dock with a 6-man Orion class Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV, AKA Deep Space Vehicle) in low Earth orbit. Given that Russian and Western spacecraft employ different docking and airlock solutions, the CEV hosts an adapter module that makes the two spacecraft compatible and includes a hatch for Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) and science instrumentation. Such a union may be suitable for deep space missions to gravitationally-stable Lagrangian points and even a near-Earth object (NEO)/asteroid.