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The second time was a charm. NASA completed a hot critical test of its center stage of the space launch system on Thursday, following a previous test that did not go as planned. The event lasted about eight minutes and created a huge, swollen cloud that spread into a nearby forest at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
NASA wants to escort humans to the moon. The agency was aiming for a mission around the unequipped Artemis I moon later in 2021, but it first had to put its moon rocket to the test here on Earth.
NASA refers to the main stage as “the backbone of the SLS rocket”. Hot fires are dramatic affairs that aim to simulate the harshness of launch conditions. Today’s event was to be the last part of a series of “Green Run” tests aimed at verifying the main phase of SLS before its actual launch from Earth.
Here is NASA’s description of what happens during the SLS hot fire: “On the day of the test, engineers will power up all base stage systems, load over 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant or supercold into the tanks. tanks and will fire the four RSs from the rocket. -25 engines at the same time to simulate the operation of the stage during launch, generating 1.6 million pounds of thrust. ”
The the first fire attempt in mid-january did not go smoothly, as the rocket came to a halt just over a minute after what should have been an eight-minute test.
At the end of January, NASA announced that it was planning to conduct a second hot fire. The rework test was originally scheduled for the end of February, but was delayed after engineers discovered that a valve – part of a system that supplies liquid oxygen to an engine – was not functioning properly. The SLS team resolved the problem and repaired the valve.
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“After analyzing the initial data, the team determined that the shutdown after firing the motors for 67.2 seconds on January 16 was triggered by test settings that were intentionally conservative to keep the floor safe. central during the test, “NASA said in a Jan.19 statement. The agency will aim to reach eight minutes during the resumption.
NASA reported that the main stage, its engines, and the test stand were all in “excellent condition” with no major repairs needed until the next attempt. The second test appeared to work as expected and elicited applause from the NASA team overseeing the exercise.
Although Artemis I have no humans on board, subsequent SLS missions will be responsible for safely escorting astronauts into space. “All SLS rockets use the same basic stage design, NASA said,“ so a second hot Green Run fire will reduce risk not only for Artemis I, but for all future SLS missions as well. “
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