SLS pathfinder at KSC

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – NASA’s Pegasus barge arrived at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf Friday, Sept. 27. Pegasus ferried the 228,000-pound, 212-foot-long Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage pathfinder mock-up. The pathfinder will be used by the Exploration Ground Systems Program and their contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The core stage includes the cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks that will feed four RS-25 rocket engines and also contains the vehicle’s avionics and flight computer. The pathfinder will stay at KSC for about a month before sailing back to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana. (Source: Brevard Times, 09/29/19)