On-orbit Assembly
Because of the spacecraft's size and weight, Altair, and its associated Earth Departure Stage, would have been launched into a low-Earth orbit (LEO) using the heavy-lift Ares V launch vehicle, followed by a separate launch of an Orion spacecraft lifted by an Ares I. After rendezvous and docking with Altair in LEO, the crew would have then configured the Orion/Altair for the journey to the Moon.
Read more about this topic: Altair (spacecraft)
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“There is a sacred horror about everything grand. It is easy to admire mediocrity and hills; but whatever is too lofty, a genius as well as a mountain, an assembly as well as a masterpiece, seen too near, is appalling.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)