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How POT begins assembling the thrusters for the space launch system (SLS) rocket that will propel Artemis’s first mission to the Moon, teams in Utah are evaluating materials and processes to improve rocket propellants for use in post-Artemis III missions.
NASA completed a large-scale booster test for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket in Promontory, Utah, on September 2. NASA and Northrop Grumman, SLS’s prime booster contractor, will use test data to assess engine performance using potential new materials and processes that can be incorporated into future thrusters. NASA has a contract with Northrop Grumman to build thrusters for future rocket flights.
“The landing of the first woman and the next man on the Moon is just the beginning of NASA’s Artemis Program,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “The SLS flight support booster firing is a crucial part of maintaining missions to the Moon. NASA’s goal is to take what we learn living and working on the Moon and use it to send humans on the first missions to Mars. “
For just over two minutes, the same amount of time that the thrusters propel the SLS rocket during takeoff and flight for each Artemis mission, the five-segment flight support thruster fires in the Utah desert, producing more 3 million pounds of thrust.
NASA and Northrop Grumman have previously completed three development engine tests and two qualification engine tests. Yesterday’s test, called Flight Support Booster-1 (FSB-1), builds on previous tests with the introduction of propellant ingredients from new suppliers for SLS rocket boosters to support flights after Artemis III.
“NASA is progressing concurrently in assembling and manufacturing the solid rocket boosters for the first three Artemis missions and is looking toward missions beyond the initial landing on the Moon,” said John Honeycutt, SLS Program Manager at the Center. NASA Space Flight Marshall in Huntsville, Alabama. . “Today marks the first flight support booster test to confirm rocket engine performance using potential new materials for Artemis IV and beyond.”
SLS thrusters are the largest and most powerful thrusters ever built for flight. The flight support amplifier used in the test is the same size and power as the flight version of a solid five-segment booster rocket used for NASA’s Artemis missions. The Artemis I thrusters are currently being prepared for launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA and Northrop Grumman successfully completed the Flight Support Booster-1 (FSB-1) test in Promontory, Utah, on September 2. The large-scale booster shot was done with new materials and processes that can be used for NASA’s Space Launch System. (SLS) rocket boosters. NASA and Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor for the SLS thrusters, will use the test data to assess engine performance using potential new materials and processes for the Artemis missions beyond the initial lunar landing in 2024. SLS are the biggest and most powerful drivers in history. built to fly. The rocket’s two boosters provide more than 75% of the thrust needed to launch future NASA space missions through NASA’s Artemis lunar program. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the SLS drives. Credit: NASA / Northrop Grumman
“This flight support booster test is the first engine fired by NASA and Northrop Grumman since they qualified the booster design for the Space Launch System rocket,” said Bruce Tiller, office manager for SLS Boosters at Marshall. “Large-scale booster tests are rare, so NASA tries to test multiple targets at once, so we are very confident that any changes we make to the thrusters will allow them to perform as expected on launch day.” .
NASA is working to get the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024. The SLS rocket, the Orion spacecraft, the Gateway, and the human landing system are part of NASA’s backbone for space exploration. deep. The Artemis program is the next step in human space exploration as part of America’s broader exploration approach from the Moon to Mars. The experience gained on the Moon will allow humanity’s next great leap: sending humans to Mars. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.
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