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There hasn’t been a manned lunar landing since 1972 – but according to NASA, under the Artemis program, that will change soon.
A NASA announcement on Nov. 24 said that in preparation for the launch of Artemis I next year, the first of 10 segments of the Space Launch System rocket was stacked on the mobile launcher, located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The announcement revealed that on November 21, engineers lowered the piece into place, for the two solid rocket boosters that will power the maiden flight of NASA’s new distant space rocket.
NASA will send Artemis I as an unmanned flight “to test the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system before crewed flights to the moon with the Artemis program,” the announcement said.
The thruster segments, each weighing 180 tonnes, were manufactured at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Utah and were transported by train to the Florida spaceport in June, in specially equipped railcars, to undergo final preparations. launch, NASA said.
On November 19, engineers transported a booster segment from the rotation, processing and surge facility to the 525-foot-high vehicle assembly building, NASA said, marking the start of operations. stacking.
Once assembled, the rocket will be gigantic.
NASA explained that when assembled, each booster – made up of five segments each – will be about half the length of a football field. “They will provide 7 million pounds of thrust for takeoff from Launch Pad 39B,” NASA said, and together the thrust generated will be more than 14 giant four-engine commercial airliners.
NASA has stated that the SLS rocket, when stacked, will be taller than the Statue of Liberty. Compared to the thrust of the Saturn V rocket in the Apollo program, NASA has stated that this rocket will have about 15% more thrust on takeoff, “making it the most powerful rocket ever built.”
This first stacking marks an important stage.
The ad quoted Andrew Shroble, an integrated operations flow manager at Jacobs, as saying, “Stacking the first piece of the SLS rocket onto the mobile launcher marks a major milestone for the Artemis program.” He added, “This shows that the mission is really taking shape and will be heading to the launch pad soon.”
What should happen next?
The solid rocket boosters – the first components of the SLS rocket to be stacked – will help support the remaining rocket parts and the Orion spacecraft, NASA explained.
Using an overhead crane that can hold up to 325 tonnes, over the next few weeks workers will lift the remaining segments and carefully place them, one by one, “onto the 380-foot-high mobile launcher -” the structure used to process, assemble and launch the SLS rocket, “says the ad.” Cranes are precise enough to lower an object onto an egg without breaking it, “NASA said.
The first thruster segments to be stacked – the lower sections known as the rear assemblies – “house the system that controls 70% of the steering during the initial rocket climb,” NASA explained. The engine segment and rear skirt, as well as the nozzle that directs hot gas leaving the engine, are included in this section.
Once the other four segments have been stacked, “the last pieces of the boosters are the front assemblies, which includes the nose cone that serves as the aerodynamic leading edge of the boosters,” NASA said, and these come together. will fix up on the middle floor when it arrives next year.
NASA has said its goal under the Artemis program is to land the first woman and the next man on the moon in 2024, and by the end of the decade, to establish sustainable lunar exploration.
“SLS and Orion, along with the human landing system and the moon-orbiting gateway, are NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration,” the announcement concludes.
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