NASA test successfully fires moon rocket
On its second attempt, NASA’s rocket shook and spat flames for the full 8 minutes and 19 seconds that will be required to propel a capsule off this planet and toward the moon.
The Space Launch System’s core stage was ignited Thursday at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss. The test was a critical milestone for the agency’s Artemis program that’s seeking to return astronauts to the moon. Secured to a 35-story-tall test stand, it was the second time the rocket’s four RS-25 engines were fired simultaneously — and the first time they were fired for the full duration.
NASA first attempted this test in January, but the engines shut off after 67.2 seconds. This was caused by preprogrammed parameters that, when exceeded, prompted the flight computers to automatically end the test. NASA said it set intentionally conservative parameters because it was testing the actual hardware that will be sent into space on the Artemis I mission, which will launch an uncrewed capsule around the moon.
The second test was initially scheduled for late February, but NASA found a liquid oxygen valve that needed to be repaired. That pushed the test back to Thursday.
“The (Space Launch System) is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built, and during today’s test the core stage of the rocket generated more than 1.6 million pounds of thrust within seven seconds,” acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in a news release. “The SLS is an incredible feat of engineering and the only rocket capable of powering America’s next-generation missions that will place the first woman and the next man on the moon.”
The rocket’s core stage contains the four rocket engines, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks, and the computers, electronics and avionics that work as the rocket’s brains. Boeing is the prime contractor for the core stage and Aerojet Rocketdyne is the prime contractor for the RS-25 engines, which were previously flown on the space shuttle.
“Deep space exploration took an important step forward today,” John Shannon, SLS vice president and program manager for Boeing, said in a news release. “The advancements made on the all-new SLS core stage are positive for NASA and the national supply chain.”
On NASA’s Artemis I mission, the Space Launch System will push an uncrewed Orion capsule into microgravity. The capsule will orbit the moon and then return to splash down in the ocean. Artemis I is scheduled to launch in November, but that date was announced before NASA had to repeat its hot fire test. Jurczyk said NASA should know in a few weeks if the November deadline can be met, according to SpaceNews and SpacePolicyOnline.com.
On launch day, the core stage will be joined by two solid rocket boosters that will help propel Orion into space. The Artemis I mission will be followed by the Artemis II mission, which will have people onboard. Then Artemis III will lower the first woman and next man to the moon.