Moon – and finally NASA is developing a giant rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) to launch astronauts to Mars. Ready to launch in November 2021, the SLS is the most powerful launch vehicle built since the 1960s.
In the first manned landing since Apollo 17 in 1972, NASA plans to send a man and a woman to the lunar surface by 2024.
For the past 20 years, astronauts have been making regular trips to the International Space Station (ISS).
But the moon is about 1000 times ahead of the ISS; Monster rockets are needed to get the astronauts there.
SLS is the modern equivalent of Saturn V, a massive projection built during the Apollo era. Like Saturn, it splits into sections, or phases, stacked on top of each other. But the rocket also incorporates technology from the space shuttle.
The first version of SLS will be called Block 1. It will make a series of upgrades in the coming years so that it can launch heavy payload launches outside of low-Earth orbit.
Block 1 will build a 23-story tower above the SLS launch pad – making it taller than the Statue of Liberty.
“It’s really a huge rocket. It’s just bigger than a jaw,” said John Schwann, vice president and program manager at SLS at Boeing, the rocket’s main contractor. He told BBC News in 2019: “When you see SLS put together, you haven’t seen anything like this since Saturn V.”
The rocket will launch astronauts into NASA’s next pay-generation crew vehicle – Orion, breaking the low-Earth orbit and increasing the speed required to move towards the moon.
How rockets work
The SLS includes a large core stage with two solid rocket boosters (SRBs). The core has two large storage tanks: one for liquid hydrogen, for fuel, and the other for liquid oxygen, an “ox oxidizer”, which burns fuel.
Also, this is known as propellant.
There are four RS-25 engines based on the main stage, the same ones that operated the space shuttle-like shuttle orbiter, which retired in 2011.
When liquid hydrogen and oxygen are fed into the engine chamber and ignited by a spark, the chemical reaction produces huge amounts of energy and vapor.
The steam engine produces a pressure to expel the zzs at a speed of 16,000 km / h (10,000 miles) – the force that propels the rocket through the air.
The SRB gives the rocket extra power to escape the grip of gravity. These twin boosters stand taller than 17 floors and burn six tons of solid propellant every second. They provide 75% of the total thrust during the first two minutes of the flight.
The most powerful rocket ever?
If we use thrust as a step, the SLS. It will be the most powerful rocket ever when it flies into space in 2021. Block 1 S.L.S. At launch time will generate 8.8 million pounds (39.1 megawatts), 15% more than Saturn V. .
In the 1960s, the Soviet Union built the N1 rocket to reach the moon. Its first phase could produce a thrust of 10.2 million pounds (45.4 magnitudes). But all four test flights ended in failure.
The future version of the SLS – called Block 2 Cargo – should reach the thrust level of N1. But a vehicle called Starship, developed by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, should be more than both – producing a thrust of 15 million pounds (66.7 megawatts). Starship is currently under development, although there is no pay date for its first flight.
SLS in number
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The rocket will remain 98 m (322 ft) Its initial, or block 1, low in configuration
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Block 1 can send more than SLS 27 Tons (59,500 lb) For Lunar Orbit – Equivalent to 11 Large Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs)
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A future version of the SLS, known as Block 2 Cargo, will be launched 46 tons (101,400 lb) On the moon. It is an 18 large SUV.
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Will produce SLS 8.8 million pounds (39.1 megawatts) Push in its block 1 configuration
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Four The RS-25 engine sits at the base of the core stage; They are the same people used in space shuttles
How shuttle technology was reused
The SLS core stage space shuttle is based on an outer tank covered with foam. The tank fed propellant to three RS-25 engines in the rear of the shuttle orbiter. Solid rocket booster plays a similar role in both vehicles.
But SLS is a very different animal. S.L.S. Significant design changes were made to the numerous components and structures derived from the shuttle due to different types of stresses by
As an example of this different strain, in the space shuttle, the RS-25 engines were farther and farther away from solid rocket boosters. Moving them next to the SRB, brings them into more shaking. As a result, every system in the complex SLS engine segment had to undergo rigorous testing to ensure it could withstand its vibrations.
Why SLS was created
In February 2010, the Obama administration canceled the galaxy – George W. Bush’s plan to return to the moon by 2020. The news struck hard for workers in five southern states – Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas – where NASA’s human spaceflight program funds thousands of jobs.
Some of Capitol Hill’s legislators were outraged. Alabama Republican Senator Richard Shelby said Congress “will not sit back and watch the reckless abandonment of sound principles, proven track record, steady path to success and the destruction of our human spaceflight program.”
As a compromise, legislators in the affected states insisted on a single super heavy-lift rocket to replace the star launchers canceled by President Obama.
The SLS design, based on NASA’s technical study, was unveiled in 2011. After work began, the delay and cost overruns gave ammunition to critics who thought NASA should rely on rockets operated by commercial providers.
But without making significant changes, none of the existing boosters have enough power to send Orion, astronauts and large cargo to the moon in one flight. Currently only SLS has this capability.
A recent oversight report states that NASA has spent more than 17 17 billion on SLS by the end of fiscal 2020.
But now at the development stage of the rocket, success in a series of eight “green run” tests conducted at the main stage should clear the way for the launch in 2021.
John Shannon, who has been in charge of SLS at Boeing since 2015, explains: “I doubt that once the SLS reaches national capacity, there will be no need for another heavy-lift vehicle for many years.
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