Turn on
Boeing staff in Mississippi have just fired the central stage of the super-heavy-duty Space Launch System (SLS) rocket being built for NASA, which is destined to launch massive amounts of hardware to be used in upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon, and possibly Mars after that.
“It is very rewarding,” Boeing chief Mark Nappi told Space.com about the test. “It is the first time that this test has been run; this is the first rocket of its kind, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. “
Big chonker
Next week, according to Space.comBoeing intends to run a series of communications and tests on the mechanical and hydraulic systems of the SLS.
If all goes well with those exercises, they hope that in October they can tie up the rocket and fire it.
Truly huge
The ultra-ambitious SLS has been criticized for falling behind on programming and exceeding the budget.
“NASA’s continuing fight to manage the costs and timeline of the SLS Program has the potential to impact the Agency’s ambitious goals for the Artemis program,” read a NASA report on the project earlier this year. .
READ MORE: The first megarocket core of the NASA Space Launch System is turned on for the ‘green run’ test[[[[Space.com]
More about SLS: After years of delays, NASA unveils its most powerful rocket
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