Earth Departure Stage

The Earth Departure Stage (EDS) is the name given to the second stages of two Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicles, the Ares V and the Block II Space Launch System. The EDS is used to boost the rocket's payload into a parking orbit around the Earth and from there send the payload out of low Earth orbit to its destination in a manner similar to that of the S-IVB rocket stage used on the Saturn V rockets that propelled the three-man Apollo missions to the Moon between 1968 and 1972.

Read more about Earth Departure Stage:  Space Launch System, Other Uses

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