Boeing gives SLS update

NEW ORLEANS -- By the summer of 2016 the Michoud Assembly Facility will complete construction on the massive tank that will help power NASA's new rocket, a Boeing executive said Wednesday. Gordon Bergstue, production director for Boeing, said the company is well underway, on schedule and in budget to build the core stage at the eastern New Orleans plant. The core stage is more than 200 feet tall and will store liquid hydrogen and oxygen to power four engines of the Space Launch System. Bergstue provided the update on the opening day of the New Orleans TechNOLAgy TechFest 2013, a three-day science and technology conference at the University of New Orleans. (Source: The Advocate, 08/21/13) The RS-25 engines that will power the SLS will be tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss., some 35 miles from Michoud. Previous: SSC building RS-25 test component, NASA to show off weld center, B-2 being prepped for SLS