 |
Core stage at SSC B-2.stand
NASA/SSC photo |
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - The first flight core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was successfully installed on the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center (SSC) Wednesday. In coming months, it will undergo an integrated series of Green Run tests prior to its maiden Artemis I test flight. Testing will culminate with an eight-minute, full-duration hot fire of the stage’s four RS-25 engines to generate 2 million pounds of thrust, as during an actual launch. The SLS core stage, the largest rocket stage ever built by NASA, stands 212 feet tall and measures 27.6 feet in diameter. It's equipped with state-of-the-art avionics, miles of cables, propulsion systems and propellant tanks that hold a total of 733,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen to fuel the four RS-25 engines during launch. The core stage was designed by NASA and Boeing in Huntsville, Ala., then manufactured at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans by lead contractor Boeing, with input and contributions from more than 1,100 large and small businesses in 44 states. The stage was transported from Michoud to SSC aboard the specially outfitted Pegasus barge. It arrived at the B-2 dock on Jan. 12 and was rolled out onto the test stand tarmac that night. Crews then began installing ground equipment needed for lifting the stage into a vertical position and onto the stand. (Source:
NASA/SSC, 01/23/20)
Previous
