TEXAS: Nasa successfully tests its most powerful rocket for Artemis mission

TEXAS: The test known as hot fire is a
milestone for the space agency’s Artemis I mission that will send an uncrewed
spacecraft on a test flight around the moon and back to Earth for future
missions with astronauts.

The
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa)
recently announced that it successfully completed Green Run testing of the core
stage of Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the largest rocket element it has
ever built.

The test
known as hot fire is a milestone for the space agency’s Artemis I mission that
will send an uncrewed spacecraft on a test flight around the moon and back to
Earth for future missions with astronauts.

The core stage
of the SLS rocket fired its four RS-25 engines for eight minutes and 19 seconds
on Thursday at Nasa’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. SLS
is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the moon on
a single mission, claims the agency.

“The
SLS 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. 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,” said acting Nasa administrator
Steve Jurczyk.

“Today’s
successful hot fire test of the core stage for the SLS is an important
milestone in NASA’s goal to return humans to the lunar surface – and
beyond,” he added.

The
previous and the first hot fire test of the SLS core stage was conducted on
January 16 which ended earlier than planned. The longer duration test provided
the agency with a wealth of information on a variety of operational conditions,
including moving the four engines in specific patterns, powering them up to 109
per cent, throttling down and back up as they will during the flight.

The core
stage of the SLS rocket has a complex network of flight software and avionics
systems to help fly, track and steer the rocket during launch and flight. The
two propellant tanks in the core stage hold over 700,000 gallons of supercold
liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to fuel the engines.

Industry
partners like Boeing, the prime contractor for the core stage, and Aerojet
Rocketdyne, the prime contractor for the RS-25 engines, are also involved in
the mission.

The SLS
rocket is one of the backbones of Nasa for deep space exploration. The agency’s
Artemis mission included preparations to send astronauts to Mars as part of
America’s Moon to Mars exploration approach.