NASA fired the main phase of its big new rocket – Space launch system (SLS) – In a decisive test on Saturday (January 16), the booster’s engines were shut down ahead of schedule.
Smoke and flames erupted from four RS-3 rocket engines at the center of NASA’s Artemis Moon program, the centerpiece of NASA’s Artemis Moon program, as it roars life over a NASA test stand. Stanislaus Space Center Near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Ignition at 5:27 p.m.
EST (2227 GMT), with 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of cryogenic fuel flowing into the engine as they roar for only 1 minute, which is shorter than planned.
The test was to run for 5 485 seconds (or just over a minute), which is the same time the engine would burn out during flight. After engine ignition, four RS-25 engines fired for only 60 seconds, NASA said.
“Not everything went according to the script today,” NASA chief Jim Bridenstein said late Saturday night after the test. “But we got a lot of great data, a lot of good information.”
Video: How NASA’s SLS Magrocket Engine Testing Works
Early engine shutdown
It is still too early to know exactly what caused the initial shutdown in Saturday’s engine test.
Flight controllers can be clearly heard during the test on the SLS booster referring to engine number 4 “MCF” (main component failure). John Honeycutt, NASA’s SLS program manager, added that at the nearly 60-second mark, the camera caught a flash in a protective thermal blanket on the engine, although its cause and significance have not been determined.
Honeycutt said it was too early to say whether another hot-fire test would be needed at Stanislaus, or if it could then be done at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the SLS would launch the Artemis 1 mission, which originated around the moon. By the end of this year. Similarly, it is too early to know whether Artemis 1 will be able to launch this year.
“I think it’s too early to say,” Bridenstein said, adding that the 2021 launch for Artemis 1 is still on the cards. “By understanding what went wrong, we should know what the future holds.”
During a press conference on Tuesday (January 12), John Shannon, vice president and program manager of SLS at Boeing, said engines needed to run for a certain amount of time to get the data they needed. “If we had an early shutdown, for whatever reason, we get all the engineering data we need to have high confidence in a vehicle in about 250 seconds.”
The test was stopped shortly after 250 seconds, and before teams were able to gamble (or move) the engine, it was not determined how much data the teams had in the vehicle and how much confidence they had.
Saturday’s test was initially moved to 1:00 a.m. EST (1900 GMT) as test preparation was ahead of schedule. However, during the countdown, the engineers held the count to work through the water deflection system check and other tests at the engine test stand. Teams will be able to work through the issues and complete the countdown in a timely manner, to complete the test on Saturday, despite the short duration.
Exercise, Known as the hot-fire testPut the four Space La Launch system booster components – four RS-25 main engines, fuel tanks and rocket computers and avionics – by their speed. The test simulated the launch when attached to the test stand, while holding the rocket firmly. (The same test stand was used to test engines on both sides of NASA Saturn V Rocket And space shuttle orbiters.)
“The SLS rocket is the most powerful rocket ever built in the history of mankind,” Bridenstein said shortly before the test on NASA TV. “This is the same rocket that, by the end of this year, will launch the Orion Crew capsule around the moon.”
Anatomy of the space launch system
NASA’s space launch system was first conceived in 2011 and is finally coming together for an unsafe trip around the moon later this year.
Each SLS rocket will use four RS-25 rocket engines to launch its 212-foot (65-meter) core stage. The rocket also relies on two solid rocket boosters and an upper stage to launch NASA’s Orion Crew capsule outside of low-Earth orbit.
Together, SLS and Orion are the two main components of NASA Artemis Moon Program Who wants Astronauts return to the moon in 2024.
The agency currently has 16 RS-25 engines on hand, which were rescued from the agency’s now retired people. Space shuttle program. Those engines will be used on the first four SLS rocket launches for Artemis missions 1 to 4. (Those flights include the program’s first crew Moon Landing, Artemis 3 and follow-up flights.)
Space launch system: Explained NASA’s giant rocket for Artemis’ lunar mission
Since the engines on those first missions were shuttle leftovers, they have been upgraded along with new computer controllers to ensure they can meet the high performance demands of the SLS launch, NASA officials said.
It’s not just a part of being recycled from past programs. Like engines, solid rocket boosters were also used to propel NASA’s space shuttle fleet into orbit. They, too, are S.L.S. Have changed to work with. But they will not be used forever. As the techno ev ev develops, the side booster will turn to advanced boosters.
This pair of boosters will be included in the SLS next to the main stage. It will have four RS-25 engines at the base of the vehicle, and will have a Streak Orion capsule at the top and rocket components from the top of the service module.
This launch system designed to pull the capsule from the rocket if something went wrong during the launch will shut down the entire vehicle.
The way to the test pad
For some time now, NASA has been systematically testing various components of the SLS rocket.
The agency tested each of the main engines separately to make sure the firing was done as expected. And to make sure the flight hardware meets design expectations, NASA launched what it calls “Green Run” test These include testing, calculation and projection timelines of craft avionics, fuel processes and more.
The test went smoothly but without problems. Delays caused by global epidemics, unprecedented tropical storms and hardware problems affecting test sites with hurricanes added to the delay.
NASA conducted two separate “wet dress rehearsals,” in which the engine was loaded with fuel and then watered. During one such exercise on December 20, The test ended unexpectedly early, Today’s hot-fire test causes delays from December, NASA said in a statement. Another coup attempt in early December stalled due to temperature issues.
Saturday also saw a series of runups for engine tests Delayed due to ongoing coronavirus epidemic, NASA officials said. Social distance restrictions mean that many NASA officials, engineers and other SLS team members (as well as the media) cannot personally come face to face to witness a rocket test. Many team members sent in videos to participate virtually.
Testing is key
The purpose of the test is to ensure that the rocket will be able to carry the Orion spacecraft launched on its orbit around the moon later this year.
With the ignition of four RS-25 engines, it closes the crucial period of preflight testing for the rocket, which NASA called its “Green Run”. That series of tests began with stress tests on the anatomy of the rocket and ended with today’s hot fire test.
The goal of the test was to run during the launch day proceedings, and igniting the four engines, allowing them to burn for just over 8 minutes – the duration they would burn during the actual flight would shrink. That full-term test fire was not explicit.
It will take those teams at least several days to review the SLS test data before deciding on further steps, such as the need for more tests at the launch site at the Kennedy Space Center or clearing its core. In Florida.
Once in Florida, it will integrate with the rest of the vehicle, which is already s night. These include Its two solid rocket boosters, Which is currently being stacked in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center.
The booster was first inspected before being sent to the segment in Florida. Each booster has five parts which are stacked on top of each other.
The Orion spacecraft is complete and is almost ready to tighten to the top of the SLS once the rocket is fully assembled.
Bridensta insisted late Saturday night that despite the initial engine shutdown, the SLS hot fire should not be seen as a failure, but as a test the agency will surely learn it.
He said, “To find out what the discrepancy is, he has full confidence in the team, how to fix it and then get it back.” “Because we don’t fail. We may have a shock, and then we’ll come back and we’ll do it again.”
Editor’s note: The story, originally posted at 6:53 p.m. EST, was updated at 9:39 p.m., with more details from a post-NASA test press conference.
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