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Successful test for NASA’s giant Moon rocket
WASHINGTON, March 19, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – NASA successfully carried out a key
static test of its troubled Space Launch System rocket on Thursday, a win for
the agency as it prepares to return to the Moon.
The second “hot fire” test saw all four of the rocket’s RS-25 engines fire
simultaneously at 4:40 pm Eastern time (2040 GMT) for the full duration of
eight minutes, producing a maximum of 1.6 million pounds of thrust (7.1
million newtons).
“The applause says a lot about how the team feels,” Bill Wrobel, an
official in charge of the test, said during a livestream after the control
room began clapping.
“Looks pretty good right now,” he added.
“This is a major milestone towards advancing our goals objectives for
Artemis,” acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk later told reporters,
referring to the lunar program.
NASA plans to place the first woman on the Moon by 2024 and build a lunar
orbital station, before eventually embarking on a crewed mission to Mars.
The test’s success came as a relief to the agency after an earlier run
involving the 212-foot (65-meter) high core stage at the Stennis Space Center
near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi was cut short in January.
“We’ve had some challenges,” said Tom Whitmeyer, NASA’s deputy associate
administrator of exploration system development.
“I’m just so proud of the team with the way they’ve methodically worked
through these challenges.”
Thursday’s test was required to collect data on how the core stage behaves
during critical operations like throttling engines up and down and moving
them in a variety of patterns.
The rocket’s tanks were filled with 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of
liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which when burned sent a huge plume of
water vapor soaring into the sky.
Engineers will analyze the data and decide whether the stage is ready to be
refurbished and transported by barge to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
There, it will be assembled with the other parts of the SLS rocket and the
Orion crew capsule, which are being prepared for the Artemis I launch later
this year — an uncrewed mission.
The SLS program has been beset by delays and cost overruns, and was
initially due to be operational in 2016.
Ars Technica reported this week NASA was conducting an internal review of
its affordability.
NASA said last August the baseline development cost was $9.1 billion and
the initial ground systems capability required $2.4 billion.
It has also been criticized as a “jobs program” for NASA’s Marshall Space
Flight Center in Alabama, as well as for its key contractors Boeing, Aerojet
Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman.
While SLS is far more powerful than SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket used to put
satellites in orbit and take crews to the ISS, Elon Musk’s company is also
working on a prototype rocket called Starship that will be capable of deep
space exploration.
Starship’s last three test flights have ended in stunning explosions, but
analysts believe the mishaps could paradoxically be accelerating the
spaceship’s development, eventually making it a viable alternative to SLS.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0850 hrs