The nuclear stage for the maiden flight of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket can be seen in the B-2 Test Stand during a second hot fire test, Thursday, March 18, 2021, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The four RS-25 engines struck for the full 8-minute duration of the test, generating 1.6 million pounds of thrust. The hot fire test is the final phase of the Green Run test series, a comprehensive assessment of the core phase of the Space Launch System prior to the launch of the Artemis I mission to the moon. Credit: NASA / Robert Markowitz
The largest missile element NASA ever built, the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) missile, fired its four RS-25 engines for 8 minutes and 19 seconds Thursday at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The successful test, known as a hot fire, is a critical milestone in the lead-up to the agency’s Artemis I mission, which will send an unmanned Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the moon and back to Earth, thus enabling the pave the way for future Artemis missions with astronauts. .
Engineers designed the eight-part Green Run test campaign to gradually bring the SLS core stage to life for the first time, culminating in the hot fire. The team will use data from the tests to validate the core phase 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 of missions that will place the first woman and the next man on the moon, ”said NASA acting administrator Steve Jurczyk. “Today’s successful hot fire test of the core stage for the SLS is an important milestone in NASA’s goal of returning humans to the lunar surface – and beyond.”
The core stage for the maiden flight of NA SA’s Space Launch System rocket is on display in the B-2 Test Stand during a scheduled eight-minute hot fire test, Saturday, January 16, 2021, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis . , Mississippi. Credit: NASA / Robert Markowitz
NASA previously conducted a hot fire test of the SLS core stage on Jan. 16. The four RS-25 engines fired together for the first time for about a minute before the test ended ahead of schedule. After data analysis, NASA determined that a second, longer hot-fire test would provide valuable data to verify the design of the core stage for flight, while there would be minimal risk to the Artemis I core stage.
During the second hot burn test, the stage fired the engines for just over eight minutes, just like every Artemis launch to the moon. The prolonged hot fire tested a variety of operating conditions, including moving the four engines in specific patterns to direct thrust and powering the engines to 109% of power, going down and up again, such as during the flight.
“This longer hot fire test provided the wealth of data we needed to ensure that the SLS nuclear stage can successfully power any SLS missile,” said John Honeycutt, manager of the SLS program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “During this test, the team performed new operations with the core phase for the first time, repeated some critical operations and recorded test data that will help us verify that the core phase is ready for the first and future SLS flights for NASA’s Artemis program. “
The two propellant tanks in the SLS core stage together hold more than 733,000 liters of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to fuel the RS-25 engines at the bottom of the stage. The core stage has a complex network of flight software and electronic systems designed to help fly, track and control the missile during launch and flight. Previous tests in the Green Run test series evaluated the integrated functionality and performance of the electronic systems, propulsion systems and hydraulic systems of the core stage.
“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.”
Test teams at Stennis supervised a network of 114 tankers and six floating barges that delivered liquid propellant through the B-2 test stand to the nuclear stage. Test teams also provided operational electrical power, delivering more than 330,000 liters of water per minute to the booth’s flame deflector, and monitoring the structural interfaces of both the hardware and the booth.
Testing the core stage of the SLS missile is a collaborative effort between NASA and its industry partners. Boeing is the prime contractor for the core phase and Aerojet Rocketdyne is the prime contractor for the RS-25 engines.
Subsequently, the core stage for SLS will be refurbished and then shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There, the nuclear stage will be assembled with the solid rocket boosters and other components of the rocket and NASA’s Orion spacecraft on the mobile launcher at the Vehicle Assembly Building in Kennedy in preparation for Artemis I.
SLS, Orion and the ground systems at Kennedy, along with the human landing system and the Gateway orbiting the moon, form the backbone of NASA for deep space exploration. SLS is the only rocket capable of sending Orion, astronauts and supplies to the Moon on a single mission. The moon exploration with NASA’s Artemis program includes preparations to send astronauts to Mars as part of America’s Moon to Mars exploration approach.