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NASA’s new moon rocket completed a full-scale flight support booster (FSB) test on Wednesday (September 2) as the agency readies its Space Launch System (SLS) to one day fly astronauts.
The two-minute test was broadcast live from Promontory, Utah at 3:05 pm EDT (1:05 pm local time or 1905 GMT) on NASA television, and the results will be analyzed to see how well came out, authorities said during the broadcast.
NASA images showed the horizontal thruster igniting on its test bed and shooting orange flames against the gray, mountainous landscape. The thruster was supposed to fire 3.6 million pounds of thrust when turned on and stay active for 122 seconds, but exact performance metrics will be released at a later time. Minutes after the test ended, steam from the heat of the flames continued to rise from the landscape.
Video: Full-size Space Launch System rocket booster made in Utah
Related: NASA’s space launch system for deep space flights in photos
“The test will evaluate new materials and verify that all ballistic requirements of the engine are met,” said Nikolas Ciaston, ballistics engineer for SLS Northrop Grumman booster contractor, in a pre-recorded video message broadcast on NASA television just before. shot of the booster.
The results of this test will also be used to prepare the construction of booster rockets after the Artemis 3 mission, NASA said in a statement. Artemis 3 is supposed to be the first human landing on the moon and is scheduled for 2024, but the agency is working on building its future rockets and spacecraft now to be ready for future missions.
What a view! NASA astronauts @JonnyKimUSA and @Astro_FarmerBob watched today’s SLS Flight Support Booster (FSB-1) test with Jeff Foote and Charlie Precourt from @ northropgrumman. pic.twitter.com/4jG3tfBB0uSeptember 2, 2020
“NASA and Northrop Grumman have completed testing of the thrusters used for the first three Artemis missions of the agency’s lunar program,” NASA added in the statement. “FSB-1 builds on previous tests of the rocket’s five-segment solid rocket propellant to evaluate thruster improvements and new materials for missions beyond Artemis 3.”
Northrop Grumman, through its predecessor Orbital ATK, has completed five test shots of the five-segment SLS thruster since 2009. Wednesday’s test comes about two months after the SLS core was turned on for a test of ” green operation “in July, a little later than planned due to the new coronavirus pandemic slowing things down through physical distancing and shipping delays.
Related: Coronavirus pandemic delays key testing of NASA’s new SLS megarocket
On Aug. 27, NASA increased the cost estimate for SLS development and said it notified Congress, as it is required to do when costs rise 30% beyond the approved budget. The baseline development cost is now $ 9.1 billion, manned spaceflight program director Kathy Lueders said in a blog post. The estimated baseline for SLS was $ 7.02 billion in 2014.
The first flight for SLS is expected in November 2021, in which the rocket will send an unmanned Orion spacecraft around the moon for a test mission to prepare both systems for future human flights. After that, a 2023 flight is expected to send a crew of astronauts around the moon, in preparation for a human landing the following year.
Related: NASA has a plan for annual flights to the moon Artemis until 2030. The first could fly in 2021.
Northrop Grumman will make modifications to the SLS thruster beginning with the Artemis 4 mission, which will be the second flight to land astronauts on the lunar surface. The company won a contract with NASA in June to plan the production of six additional SLS launches beyond Artemis 3, a contract that NASA says has a potential value of $ 49.5 million.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and Facebook.
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