NASA successfully fired the core phase of its Space Launch System (SLS) missile for the second time on Thursday afternoon.
The powerful lunar rocket’s four RS-25 engines fired for eight minutes and 19 seconds at approximately 4:37 p.m. ET at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
The “Green Run” series of hot fire test of the 212-foot nuclear stage marks what NASA says is a “critical milestone” ahead of their future lunar missions.
The core stage design will be used for all configurations of the 322-foot SLS missile, and the team will use the data from their tests to validate the design for the flight.
“The SLS is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built, and in today’s test, the core phase of the rocket generated more than 1.6 million pounds of thrust in seven seconds. The SLS is an incredible engineering feat and the only rocket capable of powering America’s next-generation missions that will place the first woman and the next man on the moon, ”acting NASA administrator Steve Jurczyk said in a Thursday release.
“The successful hot fire test of the core phase of the SLS today is an important milestone in NASA’s goal of returning humans to the lunar surface – and beyond,” he added.
NASA’s first hot fire test of the SLS core stage was conducted on January 16, when the four engines continued to run for about a minute. The test was aborted earlier than planned due to a fault in the hydraulic system, reinforcing the need for a second, longer hot fire test.
The second hot fire test allowed engineers to try a variety of operational conditions, such as directing thrust, throttle up and down, and power the engines to 100%.
The core stage propellant tanks can hold more than 700,000 liters of cryogenic propellant and simulate nearly 2 million pounds of thrust.
In addition, the stage – for which Boeing is the prime contractor – is technologically advanced, with advanced flight software and electronic systems, propulsion systems and hydraulic systems.
The stage will then be refurbished as needed and shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch of the Artemis I mission.
Artemis I, very tentatively scheduled to take off by the end of the year, will use an SLS rocket to send an unmanned Orion spacecraft on a flight around the moon and back to Earth.
“Today is a great day for NASA, Stennis and the country’s human space exploration program. This latest test in the Green Run series represents an important milestone for this country’s return to the moon and its eventual mission to Mars, ”said Richard Gilbrech, director of Stennis Center. “So many people in the agency and across the country contributed to this core SLS phase, but special recognition is due to the mixed team of test operators, engineers and support staff for their exemplary effort in conducting the test today.”
The John C. Stennis Space Center is the largest missile in the country motor test complex.