IV would be a combined tall and could be used to reach the Moon. Total payload capacity would be to for direct trans-lunar injection. NASA had considered using Ares IV to evaluate high-speed "skip" reentry profiles of the Orion capsule in 2007. NASA had planned flight demonstrations of Ares I and Ares V hardware in "Heavy Lift" configurations beginning in 2013. The "Heavy Lift" test flights were to test the first stage of the Ares V simultaneously with the Ares I upper stage attached on top to save both time and money. The later Heavy Lift test vehicle configurations are similar to the Ares IV vehicle. Ares V Lite Ares V Lite was an alternative launch vehicle for NASA's Constellation program suggested by the Augustine Commission. Ares V Lite was a scaled down Ares V. It would have used five RS-68 engines and two five-segment SRBs and have had a low Earth orbit payload of approximately 140 metric tons (309,000 lb). If chosen, Ares V Lite would have replaced the Ares V and Ares I launchers. One Ares V Lite version would have been a cargo lifter like Ares V and the second version would have carried astronauts in the Orion spacecraft. In fiction In the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness, a desktop model of the Ares V rocket was set decoration in the office of Admiral Alexander Marcus as part of his spaceflight collection. See also Comparison of orbital launch systems Space Launch System successor to Ares, similar in design. DIRECT launch vehicle Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Magnum (rocket) the NASA Boeing rocket design concept for a return to the moon, studied between 1996 and 2004, with an RS-68 engine core and liquid fly back rocket boosters. References Augustine Committee. "Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, Final Report". NASA, October 2009. External links NASA Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle Can we power future Mars missions? Partially reusable space launch vehicles Ares (rocket family) Shuttle-derived space launch vehicles Cancelled space launch vehicles