NASA continues hot fire tests of Space Launch System | PaysToPost.com: ASA has been making a ruckus lately as it continues hot fire tests of the components for its Space Launch System.
The most recent, a 500-second burn on Sept. 6 at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, was among the latest round of tests to certify the flight controller units that will act as the brain on converted space shuttle engines that help power NASAs deep-space rocket.
Each SLS launch will feature four of the converted RS-25 engines, each with their own flight controller unit, that along with two solid rocket boosters will create more than 8 million pounds of thrust to carry the Orion crew capsule to the moon and eventually Mars when launches take place from Kennedy Space Center.
Space Launch System RS-25 engine test
NASA performed another test using the RS-25 engines that are part of the Space Launch System at Stennis Space Center on Sept. 6, 2018. (NASA Stennis)
Exploration Mission-1, which will be an unmanned mission, will be no earlier than December 2019, but NASA projections said it was likely to slip to June 2020. The manned Exploration Mission-2 is slated for 2023.
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Stennis has been testing the RS-25 engines since 2015, and specifically the flight controller units since March 2017. This is the second hot fire test in a month after a nearly six-month hiatus. The last, on Aug. 14, was the first witnessed by new NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
“I have witnessed rocket launches before, but this was a new and unique experience,” Bridenstine said following the August test. “It was like watching a launch, but it never leaves the ground, and you can feel the power of the engine within your body. And what the power of this RS-25 engine represents is Americas ability to fly deeper into space than we ever did before. This was a great test.”
In addition, Stennis is continuing to test 3-D printed parts as part of the hot fires. This latest one tested a 3-D printed component designed to reduce pressure changes in engine propellant that could adversely affect the rockets stability. Also tested was a newly designed main combustion chamber.
The new series of tests are using a developmental engine that is attached to Stennis A-1 Test Stand, and not one of the actual engines that will be part of an SLS launch. The four engines that will power Exploration Mission-1 have already made their way over to NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where they will be connected to a core stage. The core stage with all four engines will return for testing at Stennis for a full engine burn on its B-2 Test Stand.
That test is slated for 2019, but no specific target window has been set yet, according to Stennis officials. After that, everything will make its way to Kennedy Space Center for launch from pad 39B.
NASAs Ascent Abort-2 Test of Orion
In a test targeted for April 2019 known as Ascent Abort-2, NASA will verify the Orion spacecrafts launch abort system, a tower on top of the crew module, can steer the capsule and astronauts inside it to safety in the event of an issue with the Space Launch System rocket when the spacecraft is under the highest aerodynamic loads it will experience during ascent for deep-space missions.
In 2019, the Space Coast will be the site for another launch test for SLS. The Ascent Abort-2 test targeted for April will see a capsule to mimic the size and weight of Orion placed atop a test booster to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It will be the second launch test of Orions Launch Abort System, designed to safely propel Orion away from the Space Launch System rockets in case of an emergency.
With 8 million pounds of thrust, SLS will be the most powerful rocket to ever launch into space. For comparison, the successful test launch in February of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center generated 5 million pounds of thrust. The Apollo programs Saturn V rockets that last launched in 1972 had 7.6 million pounds of thrust.
Sixteen former space shuttle engines are being tested at Stennis for the SLS program while six new RS-25 engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne have been ordered for use in future missions.
NASAs deep-space exploration, long-term notional plan features eight missions to the moon through 2030.
Stennis Space Center has been testing rockets for NASA launches since 1961 including all the Saturn V rockets of the Apollo era and more than 2,300 space shuttle main engine tests for all 135 space shuttle missions.
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