Thursday, October 20, 2011

SSMEs bound for SSC

All fifteen Space Shuttle Main Engines are together inside NASA's Engine Shop at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., and are being prepped for shipment to Stennis Space Center, Miss. At SSC, they'll become part of the propulsion used on NASA's next generation heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System. The engines are built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, and each is 14 feet long and more than 7 feet in diameter at the end of its nozzle. (Source: Universe Today, 10/19/11) In addition to testing the SLS engines at SSC, NASA will have portions of the SLS fabricated at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. (Previous story)