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Artist concept shows NASA's Space Launch System rising from a launchpad.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC
Original image:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/s...
More about SLS:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html
Space Launch System Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
A key piece of hardware for NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and the agency's Artemis III mission is on its way to the Space Coast. The journey for the ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage) began in Decatur, Alabama, where crews with United Launch Alliance first boxed it for shipment July 29 then loaded it onto ULA's "RocketShip" barge July 31. The barge will ferry the SLS flight hardware down the Mississippi River, into the Gulf of Mexico, then around the Florida peninsula to Cape Canaveral. Once it arrives at ULA's facility in Florida near NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the ICPS will undergo final testing and checkouts ahead of the crewed Artemis III mission. The ICPS is the in-space propulsion stage of the SLS rocket, giving NASA's Orion spacecraft and Artemis astronauts inside it the big push they need to journey all the way to the Moon for a lunar landing. The ICPS for Artemis III is the last of its kind as missions beginning with Artemis IV will use the SLS B1B configuration that includes the more powerful Exploration Upper Stage.
Watch this video to learn more about the preparations for its waterway journey!
Image credit: NASA/Brandon Hancock
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #ArtemisIII #ICPS #astronauts #RocketScience #ICPS #Moon
Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 17, 2020, the left and right booster segments for the Space Launch System are being prepared for their move to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher inside the VAB over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Teams with NASA's Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs begin to rotate the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage - the largest part of the rocket - into a vertical position in preparation for its move to High Bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be placed atop the mobile launcher in between the twin solid rocket boosters, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 11, 2021. The 188,000-pound core stage, with its four RS-25 engines, will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust during launch and ascent, and coupled with the boosters, will provide more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send the Artemis I mission to space. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, as well as establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface in preparation for human missions to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
🚀 Ready for testing!
The payload adapter test article has reached a critical milestone as it prepares for testing here at Marshall Space Flight Center. Made of metal rings and composite panels, the adapter will be part of the SLS (Space Launch System) Block 1B configuration, housed inside the universal stage adapter, and will make its debut during the Artemis IV mission.
Watch as technicians prepare the payload adapter for testing.
Credit: NASA
#NASAMarshall #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #Artemis
A view of the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 15, 2022. To the right is one of three lightning protection towers that surround the pad and protect the SLS and Orion from lightning strikes. Artemis I is the first integrated test of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. In future Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Jason Parrish
Gore panels, provided to Boeing by supplier MT Aerospace of Germany, are stacked and ready for welding on the Gore Weld Tool at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Gore panels are preformed aluminum alloy dome segments. They are welded together to form a dome -- the end cap to NASA's Space Launch System core stage hydrogen fuel tank. All of the hardware necessary for building the tank that will be used on the first flight of SLS has been delivered to the facility and is awaiting assembly. SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid and ultimately to Mars. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet, will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle’s RS-25 engines. Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, including avionics.
Image Credit: Boeing
More about SLS:
More SLS graphics and concepts:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr album
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
The first Northrop Grumman aft exit cone to arrive for the Space Launch Systemâs solid rocket boosters is moved by crane inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASAâs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 4, 2019. The aft exit cone was shipped from Promontory, Utah. It will be checked out and prepared for the Artemis I uncrewed test flight. The aft exit cones sit at the bottommost part of the twin boosters. They are attached to the aft skirts, which contain the booster separation motors. The exit cones help to protect the aft skirts during launch. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with the Orion capsule atop, slowly makes its way along the crawlerway at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022/Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. Carried atop the crawler-transporter 2, NASA’s Moon rocket is venturing the 4.2 miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B ahead of the first flight test of the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, scheduled to liftoff on Monday, Aug. 29. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by launching Orion atop the SLS rocket, operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
The interim cryogenic propulsion stage test article made a five-hour journey on the Tennessee River from United Launch Alliance in Decatur, Alabama to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. At Marshall, the hardware will undergo tests critical to the first launch of NASA's Space Launch System -- the world’s most powerful rocket.
To read the full article, click here.
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights, click here.
Astronauts and astronaut candidates from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency pose for a photograph in front of NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher on the pad at Launch Complex 39B on Aug. 28, 2022. The astronauts are, from left to right: Randy Bresnik, NASA astronaut; Christina Birch, NASA astronaut candidate; Jessica Wittner, NASA astronaut candidate; Joshua Kutryk, Canadian Space Agency astronaut; Joe Acaba, NASA astronaut; Zena Cardman, NASA astronaut; Andre Douglas, NASA astronaut candidate; Shannon Walker, NASA astronaut; Reid Wiseman, NASA astronaut; Jessica Meir, NASA astronaut; Jack Hathaway, NASA astronaut candidate; Kate Rubins, NASA astronaut; Chris Williams, NASA astronaut candidate; Stephanie Wilson, NASA astronaut; Don Pettit, NASA astronaut; Stan Love, NASA astronaut; Jeremy Hansen, Canadian Space Agency astronaut; Victor Glover, NASA astronaut. Artemis I is scheduled to launch Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. NASA/Kim Shiflett
Sunday morning views of NASA’s Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft.
Teams are progressing toward a 1:04am (ET) Wednesday launch.
In two of the photos, you can see some people at the base of the rocket for scale, as post-hurricane work on the rocket appears to be progressing.
A 5-percent scale model, including solid rocket motors, of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is ignited to test how low- and high-frequency sound waves will affect the rocket on the launch pad. The data collected from the tests will be used to help direct and verify the design of the rocket's sound suppression system.
Read more about the acoustic test:
www.nasa.gov/sls/smat-acoustic-testing.html
Image credit: NASA/MSFC
Original image:
www.nasa.gov/sls/multimedia/gallery/smat-test-sls.html
More about SLS:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html
More SLS Photos:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr album
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians mate the right-hand motor segment – one of five segments that make up one of two solid rocket boosters for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) – to the rocket’s right-hand aft skirt on June 24, 2020. Once the aft segments are mated to the two aft skirts, they will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft atop a mobile launcher is seen through the windows of Firing Room 1 in the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center as it rolls out of High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B, on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, ahead of the agency’s Artemis I flight test. The fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft is scheduled to liftoff on Monday, Aug. 29. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by launching Orion atop the SLS rocket, operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Isaac Watson
After completing its journey from NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi aboard the Pegasus barge, teams with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and lead contractor Jacobs transport the massive Space Launch System (SLS) core stage to Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida on April 29, 2021. Once inside the VAB, it will be prepared for integration with the completed stack of solid rocket boosters atop the mobile launcher ahead of the Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Astronauts and astronaut candidates from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency pose for a photograph in front of NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher on the pad at Launch Complex 39B on Aug. 28, 2022. The astronauts are, from left to right: Christina Birch, NASA astronaut candidate; Joe Acaba, NASA astronaut; Don Pettit, NASA astronaut; Victor Glover, NASA astronaut; Jeremy Hansen, Canadian Space Agency astronaut; Jessica Meir, NASA astronaut; Stan Love, NASA astronaut; Jack Hathaway, NASA astronaut candidate; Shannon Walker, NASA astronaut; Andre Douglas, NASA astronaut candidate; Kate Rubins, NASA astronaut; Chris Williams, NASA astronaut candidate; Reid Wiseman, NASA astronaut; Stephanie Wilson, NASA astronaut; Jessica Wittner, NASA astronaut candidate; Zena Cardman, NASA astronaut; Joshua Kutryk, Canadian Space Agency astronaut; Randy Bresnik, NASA astronaut. Artemis I is scheduled to launch Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. NASA/Kim Shiflett
The mobile launcher with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building’s High Bay 3 to Launch Complex 39B on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. As part of the agency’s Artemis I flight test, the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft is scheduled to liftoff on Monday, Aug. 29. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by launching Orion atop the SLS rocket, operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems move the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 30, 2020, for processing. Carried by NASA’s Pegasus barge, the LVSA arrived at Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf after departing from the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The LVSA will connect the SLS core stage to the rocket’s upper stage and will remain in the VAB until it’s time for stacking on the mobile launcher ahead of the Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test SLS and the Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: TOSC/Tracy Yates
Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the first of many pins that will secure the right-hand motor segment – one of five segments that make up one of two solid rocket boosters for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) – to the rocket’s right-hand aft skirt is inserted on June 24, 2020. Once the aft segments are mated to the two aft skirts, they will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
After completing its journey from NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi aboard the Pegasus barge, teams with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and lead contractor Jacobs transport the massive Space Launch System (SLS) core stage to Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida on April 29, 2021 in this aerial view. A NASA helicopter is in view in the upper left of the photograph. Once inside the VAB, the core stage will be prepared for integration with the completed stack of solid rocket boosters atop the mobile launcher ahead of the Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Jamie Peer and Mike Downs
Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs TOSC workers completed painting of NASA’s iconic “worm” logo on the Artemis I Space Launch System twin solid rocket boosters on Sept. 23, 2020. Originally created by the firm of Danne & Blackburn, the iconic “worm” logo’s bold, sleek design was officially introduced in 1975 and was incorporated into many of the agency’s next-generation programs. It was retired in 1992, but has made a comeback in 2020 as the agency ushers in a new, modern era of human spaceflight. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Isaac Watson
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) moved into the Multi-Payload Processing Facility February 18, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the Artemis I mission. It will undergo fueling and servicing in the facility ahead of launch by teams from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and their primary contractor, Jacobs Technology. Artemis I will be an integrated flight test of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft ahead of the crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the lunar surface and establish a sustainable presence at the Moon to prepare for human missions to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson
NASA astronauts and astronaut candidates pose for a photograph in front of NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher on the pad at Launch Complex 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 2, 2022. The astronauts are, from left to right: Victor Glover, NASA astronaut; Marcos Berrios, NASA astronaut candidate; Anne McClain, NASA astronaut; Anil Menon and Deniz Burnham, NASA astronaut candidates; and Zena Cardman, NASA astronaut. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
Hello Lego friends,
A new era of human space exploration for NASA dawns with the Space Launch System, or SLS. This super heavy-lift launch vehicle will take the Orion spacecraft and its crew of up to four astronauts beyond Earth’s orbit, enabling missions to the Moon, Mars and deep-space destinations.
Designed to reach a record-breaking speed of Mach 23 and rated for payloads of 26 metric tons, this variant will complete the first three Artemis Lunar missions.
At 1:110 scale, our product idea includes a total of 2020 Lego bricks and has three key sections.
Core stage
•Four RS-25 engines.
•External fuel line.
•Two solid boosters.
•Launch vehicle stage adaptor.
•1,953 bricks and 30 decals.
•Diameter: 10 studs, 8 cm or 3.14 inches.
•Rocket & Boosters width: 19 studs, 15.2 cm or 2.04 inches.
•Height: 126 studs, 100.8 cm or 39.68 inches.
•
Orion Crew Vehicle
•Crew module.
•Service module - with collapsed and extended solar arrays.
•Launch abort system.
•Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage.
•71 bricks and 19 decals.
•Diameter: 4 studs, 3.2 cm or 1.25 inches.
•Height: 15 studs, 12 cm or 4.72 inches.
•Wingspan: 15 studs, 12 cm or 4.72 inches.
Optional Display Stand
•Displays SLS ready for launch at Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B.
•222 bricks.
•Width: 24 studs, 19.2 cm or 7.55 inches.
•Length: 28 studs, 22.4 cm or 8.81 inches.
•Height: 10 studs, 8 cm or 3.14 inches.
This collaborative project was created by Saturn V co-designer Valerie Roche (Whatsuptoday) and her SpaceX Collection/ Starship & New Glenn Co-Designer Matthew Nolan, along with co-designer of SpaceX Starship Mark Nolan.
Please, visite our Lego Ideas project: ideas.lego.com/projects/e72800b7-14d6-40b4-b9f1-d9a60efc9e45
Have it fun and enjoy it!
Marcie Nolan, Matthew Nolan & Valérie Roche
Boeing is building the core stages for NASA’s next heavy-lift rocket, the 321-foot tall Space Launch System, at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
Work continues as Boeing builds the core stage for the Space Launch System, using massive friction stir weld tooling, such as this Vertical Weld Center, which stacks rocket segments, then welds them together.
LEARN MORE - www.boeing.com/space/space-launch-system/
NASA astronauts and astronaut candidates view NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher on the pad at Launch Complex 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 2, 2022. The astronauts are, from left to right: Zena Cardman, NASA astronaut; Deniz Burnham and Anil Menon, NASA astronaut candidates; Anne McClain, NASA astronaut; Marcos Berrios, NASA astronaut candidate; and Victor Glover, NASA astronaut. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
NASA's welding tool, one of the worlds largest. The massive tool was designed and built to weld together the domes, rings, and barrels that make up the core stage pieces of the Space Launch System (SLS). The size of this thing can’t be described or shown in a photo.
A 1:100 (31-inch) scale model of the NASA Space Launch System core stage B-2 test stand successfully completed wind tunnel testing Aug. 8. The actual B-2 test stand, located at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., was originally built to test Saturn rocket stages that propelled humans to the moon. It is being completely renovated to test the core stage of NASA's new heavy-lift launch vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS), in late 2016 and early 2017.
"The scale model was exposed to varying wind speeds at different angles,” said John Rector, SLS Stages Green Run test manager in the Stages Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. “Test stand designers used the test as a way to validate the structure meets current building codes. We want to maximize the capacity of the structure, while minimizing the amount of steel used -- which reduces costs."
The wind tunnel testing was performed by NASA subcontractor CPP Wind Engineering & Air Quality Consultants at its facility in Fort Collins, Colo. The SLS core stage, with four RS-25 rocket engines, will be installed on the stand for propellant fill and drain testing and two hot fire tests.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC
Original image:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/s...
More about the test stand:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/b2stand.html
More about SLS:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html
More SLS Photos:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
The J-2X powerpack assembly was fired up one last time on Dec. 13 at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, finishing a year of testing on an important component of America's next heavy-lift rocket. The powerpack assembly burned millions of pounds of propellants during a series of 13 tests during 2012 totaling more than an hour and a half. NASA engineers will remove the assembly from the test stand to focus on tests of the fully integrated engine. Installation on a test stand at Stennis will begin in 2013. The powerpack is a system of components on top of the engine that feeds propellants to the bell nozzle of the engine to produce thrust. The J-2X engine, designed and built by NASA and industry partner Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., will power the upper stage of the 143-ton (130-metric-ton) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and other payloads from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, providing an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. The program is managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
View original image/caption:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/j2x/ppt_dec13_2.html
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Space Launch System Deputy Program Manager Jerry Cook, center, and SLS Stages Integration Manager Tim Flores, right, sign their names on the 900-pound steel beam that "topped out" Test Stand 4697, which is under construction to test the Space Launch System liquid oxygen tank at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. SLS will be the world's most powerful rocket and carry astronauts in NASA's Orion spacecraft on deep-space missions, including the journey to Mars. "Topping out" is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam is placed on top of a structure during its construction. The 85-foot-tall test stand will use hydraulic cylinders to subject the liquid oxygen tank and hardware of the massive SLS core stage to the same loads and stresses it will endure during a launch. The tests also will verify the models already in place that predict the amount of loads the core stage can withstand during launch and ascent. (NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given)
More SLS Photos:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
#JourneyToMars #NASAMarshall #SLS
_______________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
LS
The Orion spacecraft with integrated European Service Module sit atop the Space Launch System, imaged at sunrise at historic Launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA on 27 August.
The Flight Readiness Review has deemed the trio GO for launch, marking the dawn of a new era in space exploration.
The first in a series of missions that will return humans to the Moon, including taking the first European, Artemis I is scheduled for launch no earlier than Monday 29 August, at 14:33 CEST.
This mission will put NASA’s Orion spacecraft and ESA’s European Service Module to the test during a journey beyond the Moon and back. No crew will be on board Orion this time, and the spacecraft will be controlled by teams on Earth.
The crew module, however, won’t be empty. Two mannequins, named Helga and Zohar, will occupy the passenger seats. Their female-shaped plastic bodies are filled with over 5600 sensors each to measure the radiation load during their trip around the Moon. The specially trained woolly astronaut, Shaun the Sheep, has also been assigned a seat.
The spacecraft will enter lunar orbit using the Moon’s gravity to gain speed and propel itself almost half a million km from Earth – farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever travelled.
The second Artemis mission will see four astronauts travel around the Moon on a flyby voyage around our natural satellite.
Mission duration depends on the launch date and even time. It will last between 20 to 40 days, depending on how many orbits of the Moon mission designers decide to make.
This flexibility in mission length is necessary to allow the mission to end as intended with a splashdown during daylight hours in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, USA.
Two more dates are available if a launch on 29 August is not possible. The Artemis Moon mission can also be launched on 2 September and 5 September. Check all the possible launch options on ESA’s Orion blog.
Orion is the only spacecraft capable of human spaceflight outside Earth orbit and high-speed reentry from the vicinity of the Moon. More than just a crew module, Orion includes the European Service Module (ESM), the powerhouse that fuels and propels Orion.
ESM provides for all astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion. Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will take the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
Watch launch coverage on ESA Web TV starting at 12:30 CEST here. Follow @esaspaceflight for updates and live Twitter coverage.
Credits: ESA-A. Conigli
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The J-2X engine before installation at the Stennis Space Center. The engine's new turbo pump exhaust port cover (detailed inset) was recently built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., using a pioneering manufacturing process called Selective Laser Melting.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC
Read more:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/j2x/3d_print.html
More about J-2X:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/j2x/
More about SLS:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html
Space Launch System Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
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These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
In the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAâs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the second of two Artemis I aft booster segments for the Space Launch System is lowered by crane into High Bay 3 on Nov. 24, 2020. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson
NASA conducted a key stability test firing of the J-2X rocket engine Dec. 1, marking another step forward in development of the upper-stage engine that will carry humans farther into space than ever before.
The Dec. 1 test firing focused on characterizing the new engine's combustion stability, a critical area of development. During the test firing, a controlled explosion was initiated inside the engine's combustion chamber to introduce an energetic pulse of vibrations not expected during nominal operations. Data from this and future combustion stability tests will help engineers understand more about the engine's performance and robustness during engine operation.
The J-2X engine was test fired on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center, in south Mississippi. The engine is being developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. It will provide upper-stage power for NASA's new Space Launch System. The SLS will carry the Orion spacecraft, its crew, cargo, equipment and science experiments to space -- providing a safe, affordable and sustainable means of reaching the moon, asteroids and other destinations in the solar system.
Read the NASA press release:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/j2x/stability1.html
Watch the video:
www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=...
Image credit: NASA/SSC
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
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These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 carrying the agency’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, begins the 4.2-mile journey toward Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. Seen in the background is also mobile launcher 2, which will be used on future Artemis flights beginning with Artemis IV. The Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), around the Moon and back to Earth no later than April 2026. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 17, 2020, the left and right booster segments for the Space Launch System are being prepared for their move to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher inside the VAB over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
A thrust frame adapter is lifted onto the A-1 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in the closing days of 2013. The new adapter is needed to enable testing of RS-25 rocket engines that will power the core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
Read more:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/r...
More about SLS:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html
More SLS Photos:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
An engine section structural qualification test article for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, is loaded onto the barge Pegasus at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The test article now will make its way from Michoud to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for structural loads testing. For the test series, hydraulic cylinders will be electronically controlled to push, pull, twist and bend the test article with millions of pounds of forceAn engine section structural qualification test article for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, is loaded onto the barge Pegasus at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The test article now will make its way from Michoud to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for structural loads testing. For the test series, hydraulic cylinders will be electronically controlled to push, pull, twist and bend the test article with millions of pounds of force to ensure the hardware can withstand the extreme forces of launch and ascent. The engine section, located at the bottom of the rocket's core stage, will house the four RS-25 engines and be an attachment point for the two solid rocket boosters. The engine section test article is the first of four core stage test articles manufactured at Michoud and is designed to the same specifications as the engine section that will fly on the first SLS mission with the Orion spacecraft.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/Michoud
#NASAMichoud, #NASAMarshall
For more Space Launch System images
For more Michoud Assembly Facility images
For more about the Space Launch System
to ensure the hardware can withstand the extreme forces of launch and ascent. The engine section, located at the bottom of the rocket's core stage, will house the four RS-25 engines and be an attachment point for the two solid rocket boosters. The engine section test article is the first of four core stage test articles manufactured at Michoud and is designed to the same specifications as the engine section that will fly on the first SLS mission with the Orion spacecraft.
A crane moves steel in January 2016 during construction of Test Stand 4697, at lower left, as historic Test Stand 4670 towers in the background at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Test Stand 4670 was used for development of the Saturn rockets that launched astronauts to the moon. The new structural test stand is one of two under construction at Marshall that are critical to development of the Space Launch System. SLS will be the world's most powerful rocket for human space exploration, able to carry astronauts in the Orion spacecraft on deep-space missions, including the journey to Mars.
The 85-foot-tall Test Stand 4697 will use hydraulic cylinders to subject the liquid oxygen tank and hardware of the massive SLS core stage to the same loads and stresses it will endure during a launch. The stand is rising in Marshall's West Test Area, where work is also underway on the 215-foot-tall towers of Test Stand 4693, which will conduct similar structural tests on the SLS core stage's liquid hydrogen tank.
The structure at right of the crane is Test Stand 4699, which is used for Integrated Spacecraft and Payload Element Structural Tests. Test Stands 4697 and 4693 are scheduled for completion in 2016 by prime contractor Brasfield & Gorrie of Birmingham, Alabama, and several of its subcontractors. (Photo courtesy Brasfield & Gorrie)
For more information on the Space Launch System, visit: www.nasa.gov/sls
More SLS Photos:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
#JourneyToMars #NASAMarshall #SLS
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These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
LS
An engine section weld confidence article is taken off the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
Read full feature.
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/michoud-to-complete-...
_______________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
A test article of the stage adapter aced structural loads testing at the Marshall Center's East Test Area. (NASA/MSFC)
More about SLS:
More SLS graphics and concepts:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr album
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
An expanded view of an artist rendering of the 70-metric-ton configuration of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Launching astronauts on board the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, this vehicle will enable humans to explore our solar system farther than ever before, supporting travel to asteroids, the moon, Mars and other deep space destinations. NASA plans to launch an uncrewed test flight of this configuration in 2017.
Image credit: NASA
Original image:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/s...
More about SLS:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html
Space Launch System Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Technicians walk alongside NASA’s upgraded crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) as it continues the trek on the crawlerway from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Launch Pad 39B to test recently completed upgrades and modifications for NASA’s journey to Mars. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy oversaw upgrades to the crawler in the VAB. The crawler will carry the mobile launcher with Orion atop the Space Launch System rocket to Pad 39B for Exploration Mission-1, scheduled for 2018. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett