NASA attaches first of four engines to historic Huntsville-managed SLS rocket core

Boeing engineers and technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have now structurally attached the first of four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines to the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will help power the first Artemis mission to the Moon.

Per an announcement by NASA this week, integration of the RS-25 engines to the recently completed core stage structure is a collaborative, multistep process that includes two private sector partners — Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the RS-25 engines lead contractor.

The SLS program is managed out of Marshall Space Flight Center for NASA, while Boeing’s Huntsville-based Space and Launch division manages the company’s SLS work. SLS is the most powerful rocket in world history and the only rocket that can send the Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.

Originally designed for the Space Shuttle program, the RS-25 engines have been modified to deliver more power for the SLS.

To complete the installation, the technicians will next integrate the propulsion and electrical systems.

During launch and flight, the four engines will fire nonstop for 8.5 minutes, emitting hot gases from each nozzle 13 times faster than the speed of sound.

The engines, located at the bottom of the core stage in a square pattern, are fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

The completed core stage with all four engines attached will be the largest rocket stage NASA has built since the Saturn V stages for the Apollo Program.

The goal of NASA’s Artemis program is to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. After that, the program aims to take Americans to Mars. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon.

North Alabama also will play a leading role in some of these other components of Artemis, including with the lunar Gateway and the new Human Landing System. Historic contributions to America’s space prowess are being made by several private sector partners in the Yellowhammer State, such as United Launch Alliance (ULA), Boeing and Dynetics.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn