An engine section structural qualification test article for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, is loaded onto the barge Pegasus at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The test article now will make its way from Michoud to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for structural loads testing. For the test series, hydraulic cylinders will be electronically controlled to push, pull, twist and bend the test article with millions of pounds of force to ensure the hardware can withstand the extreme forces of launch and ascent. The engine section, located at the bottom of the rocket's core stage, will house the four RS-25 engines and be an attachment point for the two solid rocket boosters. The engine section test article is the first of four core stage test articles manufactured at Michoud and is designed to the same specifications as the engine section that will fly on the first SLS mission with the Orion spacecraft.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/Michoud
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Tags: Boeing Engine Section S3 NASA NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center Journey to Mars Space Launch System SLS Michoud Assembly Facility MAF barge Pegasus
NASA completed major welding for the liquid hydrogen tank for the first Space Launch System mission at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The tank was the final piece of flight hardware completed for the deep-space rocket’s first mission. All five of the structures that will be joined to form the 212-foot-tall core stage, the backbone of the SLS rocket, are built. The liquid hydrogen tank measures more than 130 feet tall, comprises almost two-thirds of the core stage and holds 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/MAF/Jude Guidry
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On April 12, NASA’s last space shuttle external tank will embark on a journey to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Its final mission is to commemorate past achievements in space, educate, and inspire future generations of explorers at the California Science Center.ET-94, a lightweight version of the external tank, measures approximately 154 feet long and 27.5 feet in diameter and weighs about 69,000 pounds. The external tank served as the structural backbone of the space shuttle and was designed to absorb and distribute over 7 million pounds of thrust generated at launch. It also fed liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen to the space shuttle main engines mounted on the shuttle’s orbiter.ET-94 was designated a test article for the Space Shuttle Program in order to validate processes and procedures prior to performing the work on the next flight article. ET-94 was a vital part of NASA’s ability to return flight and is a testament to the ingenuity and can-do spirit of the external tank team.The Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, NASA’s only large-scale manufacturing facility, manufactured 138 ET’s during the Space Shuttle Program. The external tank was managed by Lockheed Martin for NASA. Michoud is managed by the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
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Tags: MAF NASA External Tank Space Shuttle RTF rollout Space Claifornia Science Center NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center Michoud Assembly Facility MSFC California Los Angeles New Orleans Louisiana Barge Return to Flight Rocket
A ring and barrel recently loaded onto the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The tool, one of the largest in the world, will join domes, rings and barrels to complete the tanks or dry structure assemblies for the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System. The tool also will perform nondestructive evaluation on the completed welds. These are the first confidence welds performed on the tool, which ensures it works as it is designed to do before welding actual flight hardware.
SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid and ultimately to Mars. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall (61 meters) with a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 meters), will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle’s RS-25 engines.
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Tags: Michoud welding Space Launch System Assembly Facility
The liquid oxygen tank--shown here as technicians inside the tank complete final welds to plug holes left by the robotic welder-- is undergoing the first hydrostatic testing for NASA's deep-space rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). The tank is filled with around 200,000 gallons of water that will simulate the propellant, loads, pressure and mass of the liquid oxygen. This test ensures that welds will hold to the right strength when exposed to forces similar to those experienced during launch and flight.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/MAF/Jude Guidry
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