Earth Orbit Rendezvous was a proposed method for American space missions to the moon. It consisted of using a series of small rockets half the size of a Saturn_V Rocket to put different components of a spacecraft to go to the moon in orbit around the earth, then assemble them in orbit. It was viewed as undesirable because at the time there was not that much experience with manuvering space objects to rendezvous, and it was unknown if the ship could be successfully constructed in space.
Earthorbitrendezvous: This plan, known as Earthorbitrendezvous (EOR), would have required the launch of two Saturn V rockets, one containing the space ship and one containing fuel.
The Saturn V would be necessary to take it to polar orbit, or sun-synchronous orbit (neither of which has yet been achieved by any manned spacecraft), and even to the geosynchronous orbit of Syncom 3, a communications satellite not quite in geostationary orbit.
This was the first functioning communications satellite at that now-common great distance from the Earth, and it was small enough to be carried through the hatch and taken back to Earth for study as to the effects of radiation on its electronic components in that environment over a period of years.
The new transportations system, which uses both an EarthOrbitRendezvous and a Lunar OrbitRendezvous technique, can be broken down into three parts: The CEV Crew and Service Modules, the Lunar Surface Access Module, and the Earth Departure Stage.
The rockets to be used for launching of the different components consists of the unmanned Ares V (for launch of cargo and the Earth Departure Stage), and the manned Ares I for launch of the CEV.
After the TLI burn, the EDS is then jettisoned to either enter into either a solar orbit or steered into a slightly different trajectory to crash the stage into the lunar surface (similar to that used on the S-IVB for the last five Apollo missions).
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