NASA released a video this week providing behind-the-scenes footage of the final phase of testing and development of Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion.
Alabama’s aerospace industry has led the effort to build SLS, set to become the most powerful rocket ever built.
The SLS program is managed out of Marshall Space Flight Center. Developed by Boeing in Huntsville, and powered by four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines, SLS stands 212 feet high and 27.6 feet in diameter.
SLS will power the Orion spacecraft into deep space for missions to the Moon. Built by Lockheed-Martin, Orion will carry up to four astronauts.
Watch:
The key testing phase for SLS, known as “Green Run,” is series of tests will examine many of the rocket’s systems together for the first time in preparation for launch. The Green Run culminates with an eight-minute, full-duration hot fire of the stage’s four RS-25 engines to replicate the 2 million pounds of thrust required at launch.
Refurbishment for SLS takes place after Green Run.
Boeing SLS vice president and program manager John Shannon estimated that refurbishment will primarily involve inspections. He stated that in “a high vibration, high acoustic environment,” the question for team members becomes “did we break anything?” He cited thermal protection fixes as something that will need to be done because the fuel tank contracts when cold cryogenics are loaded in it, then expands again as it warms back up.
“By the time we take this vehicle to Kennedy Space Center it will be an extremely well-understood vehicle and we’ll have really high confidence in flying it,” Shannon concluded.
Tim Howe is an owner of Yellowhammer Multimedia
