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The Crew Exploration Vehicle, or CEV, is part of NASA's Project Constellation which is meant to develop a replacement for the space shuttle and to put men back on the moon. The goal is to have people return to the moon by 2018. The shuttle is being retired mostly because of cost and safety. While the shuttle is versatile and extremely useful in bringing large payloads to orbit, it is very costly to run and has become increasingly dangerous to fly. The renewed interest in the moon is partly for research and exploration and also as a stepping stone to more ambitious goals. By having a regular presence on the moon humans will be able to conduct more research and test techniques for living far away from earth for long times. With the eventual goal being Mars, going back to the moon is an important stepping stone.

The CEV will be launched by rockets recycled from the space shuttle, Solid rocket boosters and the shuttle main engines will bring the CEV and the payload needed for a trip to the moon into low earth orbit. It will be utilized as a ferry to and from the ISS similar to the Russian Soyuz capsule. It will also be used for the trip to the moon and will basically function the same as the Apollo Command Module, only "on steroids". It will carry from 3-6 people and will make a parachute landing instead of landing like the space shuttle. The reason behind the move back to capsules from the shuttle is to make a cheap and reusable vehicle while ensuring safety and simplicity. The missions to the moon will be remarkably similar to the Apollo era missions, The crew will launch and rendezvous with the Lunar Lander which will be sent up separate from the CEV. They will then go to the moon, land and after taking off reunite with the CEV which will take them home. The differences from the Apollo moon landings are: the CEV and Lunar Lander will be launched separately, and the overall capabilities and size. The CEV is larger, more powerful and can carry more passengers.