NASA Live Stream: Watch the Space Launch System Hot Shot Test

NASA has spent years and billions of dollars developing a giant rocket known as the Space Launch System, designed to take astronauts to the moon and possibly further into the solar system one day. But the rocket’s first launch – an unmanned test flight that will go to the moon and beyond – won’t take off until at least November.

This Saturday, however, NASA is expected to put on a fiery spectacle as it performs a crucial test: firing all four booster stage engines for eight minutes, simulating what would happen during an actual launch into orbit. The recall, however, will remain securely held on a test bed at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

The test firing is scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. EST. NASA Television has started broadcasting coverage of the test, or you can watch it in the built-in video player above.

Earlier in the afternoon, the agency moved the schedule forward by an hour, saying that after loading the rocket with propellant, the preparation was ahead of schedule.

However, the updated schedule was later delayed, and Alex Cagnola, a NASA engineer, said the test drivers were “working on a few issues at the stand,” without describing the cause of the delay or how long it was for.

NASA said there was a two-hour window during which the test could take place.

A press conference is scheduled to follow approximately two hours after the test.

The Space Launch System is the 21st century equivalent of the Saturn V that took NASA astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. While there are many other rockets available today, they are too many. small for launching spacecraft that can carry people to the moon. (One possible exception is SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, but a human lunar mission would require two separate launches carrying parts that would then either dock together in space or head separately to the moon.)

The Falcon Heavy can lift up to 64 metric tons in low earth orbit. The initial version of the SLS is a bit more powerful, capable of lifting 70 metric tons, and future versions of the rocket will be able to smooth up to 130 metric tons, more than the rockets that carried the Apollo astronauts to the moon.

Although the space launch system will be expensive – up to $ 2 billion per launch for a rocket that can only be used once – Congress has so far provided it with constant financial support. Supporters argue that it’s important for the government to own and operate its own powerful rocket in deep space, and parts of the system are being built by companies across the country, extending the economic benefits to many states. and congressional districts.

The space launch system is a key part of Artemis, the program to bring NASA astronauts back to the moon for years to come. Although President Trump pledged to make the trip by the end of 2024, few expected NASA to actually meet this timeline, even before President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

When NASA announced its plans for the space launch system in 2011, the first launch was scheduled for 2016. As is usually the case with new rocket designs, development has encountered technical challenges, such as that the need to develop procedures to weld metal parts together. large like those of the rocket. NASA also suspended work on the rocket for a time last year during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak.

As the date of the first launch has slipped several times, the price has increased. NASA has so far spent more than $ 10 billion on the rocket and more than $ 16 billion on the Orion capsule where the astronauts will be seated.

In a 2018 audit, the NASA Inspector General blamed the poor performance of Boeing, the prime contractor who built the extra stage, for much of the delay. Another report from the Inspector General in 2020 said NASA “continues to struggle to manage the costs and timing of the SLS program.”

The test fire is part of what NASA calls the green race, a series of fully assembled booster stage tests. The same booster will be used for the first flight into space, so engineers want to make sure it performs as intended before launching it.

Just like with a real launch, technical issues arise. In an earlier test, known as the wet dress rehearsal, in which the entire countdown was simulated except for the ignition of the engines, almost everything went well. But for the last few seconds, one of the thruster valves didn’t close as soon as expected. It turned out the temperature was a bit lower than expected, which made the valve a bit harder to turn. The software has since been adjusted.

The worst case would be if a malfunction resulted in the destruction of the booster. This would add years of delay to the program and renew calls for NASA to consider alternatives.

Several more rockets are in development, and some may be close to their first trips to space.

The United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, could launch its Vulcan Centaur in the fourth quarter of the year. The Vulcan Centaur is the successor to Atlas V, a longtime workhorse for military and NASA satellite launch. However, this rocket uses Russian-made RD-180 engines, and Congress is increasingly wary of technology from a country often seen as an adversary.

Blue Origin, the rocket company created by Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, also developed a reusable rocket called New Glenn that would compete with SpaceX’s Vulcan Centaur and Falcon 9 rockets. (Blue Origin will also earn money every time Vulcan Centaur is launched; this booster uses BE-4 engines made by Blue Origin.)

The most intriguing is the gigantic Starship rocket being developed by SpaceX by Elon Musk. When mounted on top of a huge booster stage, it would eclipse the space launch system, while still being fully reusable as a jet plane. It’s designed to take people to Mars, and SpaceX also won a contract to adapt it to take NASA astronauts to the moon’s surface.

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Mr. Musk’s engineers conducted atmospheric test flights of Starship prototypes at a site in South Texas along the Gulf Coast. In the most recent test, which was broadcast live over the internet, the rocket prototype achieved a number of technical goals before descending too quickly upon landing and exploding in a spectacular explosion. The company appears to be gearing up for its next test flight in the coming days or weeks.