Tom Roe – Media Artist / Web Designer

Ares I 3d Model by Tom Roe - Booster Detail

This is an updated 3d model based on some closer imagery I found on the web.

It is not exact, nor can it be; I don’t have the detailed plans, just some reference images. I do believe that this level of detail will be sufficient to create an animation of this thing taking off, and have it be somewhat believable though.

Actual Photo of Ares I Booster.

You have to imagine it in context. It will be moving, blurred, and there will be a lot of distracting smoke and fire. So without spending weeks on the detail, this is probably good enough. I’ll continue the other stages as I have time.

-Tom

Tom Roe 3d model of Ares I rocket. Click to view fullsize image.

This is my 3D model of the Ares I Rocket developed by NASA. I built it in a day to this level of detail and have more work to do, but this is a good start. The information that follows is from the NASA page, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/aresl/index.html. Enjoy.

NASA is already at work developing hardware and systems for the Ares I rocket that will send future astronauts into orbit. Built on cutting-edge launch technologies, evolved powerful Apollo and space shuttle propulsion elements, and decades of NASA spaceflight experience, Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system — one that will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system.

Ares I in profile. Click to view full image.

Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket configuration topped by the Orion crew vehicle and its launch abort system. In addition to the vehicle’s primary mission — carrying crews of four to six astronauts to Earth orbit — Ares I may also use its 25-ton payload capacity to deliver resources and supplies to the International Space Station, or to “park” payloads in orbit for retrieval by other spacecraft bound for the moon or other destinations.

During launch, the first-stage booster powers the vehicle toward low Earth orbit. In mid-flight, the reusable booster separates and the upper stage’s J-2X engine ignites, putting the vehicle into a circular orbit.

Crew transportation to the International Space Station is planned to begin no later than 2014. The first lunar excursion is scheduled for the 2020 timeframe.

I love the look of the James Cameron movie, Avatar. I can’t wait to see it. It has inspired me a bit to begin experimenting with the floating island concept. This is very crude but I thought I’d test a few things and post them here.

This was created in Vue 7 xStream. There is no editing or tweaking at all to this image; it is a single pass render straight out of Vue. This is an amazing program, but it took a while to render this image even on my 4 core phenom system.