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NASA will attempt to pull the engines on its Space launch system (SLS) megarocket for the first time today and you can watch the fiery action live online.
As part of a critical test before the rocket monster takes off for the first time, the agency plans to firing all four main motors on its heavy lifting core booster this afternoon (January 16). The test, which is designed to simulate the performance of the main stage at launch, will take place in the agency Stennis Space Center, in Mississippi.
You can watch the test live here and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of NASA, from 4:20 p.m. EST (1920 GMT). You can also watch the test directly from NASA here.
Today’s engine test is the final step in the agency’s “Green Run” series of tests to ensure the SLS rocket is ready for its first launch – called Artemis 1 – which will send an unequipped Orion spacecraft around the moon. This first flight is expected to take off later this year.
Video: How NASA’s megarocket SLS engine test works
The SLS is NASA’s next-generation heavy-lift rocket that will transport astronauts to the moon as part of the agency’s Artemis lunar program. Launched by the end of this year, Artemis 1 will be the first in a series of missions that will culminate with NASA’s first crewed lunar landing since the Apollo era. This mission, called Artemis 3, could happen as early as 2024 if everything goes as planned.
To this end, NASA puts the four RS-25 engines of the massive SLS rocket to the test before launch. The agency routinely tests every engine and conducts launch day procedures such as refueling to ensure all systems are working as intended.
The next hot fire engine test is the last step in the testing process. On Saturday, engineers will load the SLS Core Booster with over 700,000 gallons of super-cooled thruster before firing all four RS-25 engines at once. This will mark the first time that four RS-25 engines will be firing at the same time. (The same engines powered the space shuttle, but it only took three to make the orbiter fly.)
Related: Here are the space missions to watch for in 2021
Burning for about 8 minutes – the length of time they will burn during a moon launch – the RS-25 quartet will generate a massive 1.6 million pound thrust during the test.
“When we fire up the engines, the scene will actually think it’s flying,” Ryan McKibben, NASA’s Green Run test chief at the Stennis Space Center, said at a pre-test press conference on Jan. 12. “That’s what it’s designed to be. But of course that won’t go anywhere as the stage is set at the same spots where the solid anchored rocket boosters would be anchored.”
As part of the agency’s “Green Run” testing program, the megarocket underwent two wet dress rehearsals, in which fuel was loaded and then emptied. Officials said the tests went well; however, they were not without problems. One of the refueling operations ended early, another was delayed due to weather issues and the campaign was also affected by multiple tropical storms as well as the global pandemic. Therefore, the agency chose to delay the hot fire test.
Pictures: NASA’s SLS mega-socket center first stage for the moon has its engines
Agency officials explained that the delays proved to be successful because the team was able to revise the procedures and update the terminal countdown sequence based on the pre-flight tests.
The test is scheduled to take place late Saturday afternoon, and that morning the day will begin with a “go / no-go” meeting where the team will decide to begin refueling procedures. Once this is underway, a final survey will be conducted at T-10 minutes to determine if it is safe to proceed with the hot fire test.
The motors will burn for 485 seconds, or approximately 8 minutes. Once the test is complete, a review of the data will begin and should take several days, according to Julie Basser of NASA, SLS program manager at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
“This is the first time that we are activating this central step and it is an important step for us,” she said. We’re doing everything we can to make sure we’re getting the most out of this hot fire test and we’re ready to go. The tests help to learn and ensure that the rocket is ready to fly astronauts on the moon. “
If all goes according to plan, the main stage will be refurbished and then shipped to Kennedy Space Center to prepare for launch. Its expected arrival is scheduled for February, where it will be integrated with the rest of the vehicle already on site.
Currently, the massive rocket thruster segments of the massive rocket are stacked one by one in the vehicle assembly building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Along with the four RS-25 engines, the SLS will be powered by two solid rocket boosters that consist of five assembled segments. (Each booster is made from salvaged segments that were used in NASA’s space shuttle program.)
When fully assembled, each of the two solid rocket boosters will stand 54 meters tall and produce more than 3.6 million pounds of lift-off thrust – the bulk of the power in the first two minutes of launch and flight.
Related: Coronavirus Delays Key Testing of NASA’s New SLS Megarocket
This first SLS rocket will be used for the Artemis 1 mission, which is an unmanned flight that will send NASA Orion space capsule on a trip around the moon, helping to pave the way for a possible planned lunar landing near the south polar region of the moon.
Orion is the third vehicle currently in development by NASA, which will eventually take NASA astronauts into low Earth orbit and beyond. The first, SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule entered service in 2020 as it transported astronauts to the space station in May and November.
Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule is expected to launch astronauts later this year, following a second successful orbital flight test. Starliner was first launched in 2019, on an unmanned flight to the space station, but failed to reach the orbital outpost after a series of software anomalies. Its next test flight is scheduled for no earlier than March and if all goes well, it will transport a crew of three astronauts to the space station later this year.
Having three different capsules for astronauts will give NASA the flexibility to send astronauts into low earth orbit on a regular basis while exploring the moon and possibly Mars.
Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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