SLS Core Stage Green Run validates propulsion system performance and modeling
May 11, 2021
Engineers with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program and prime Core Stage contractor Boeing continue to review terabytes of data from the now-complete, once-in-a-generation Green Run design verification test campaign. A series of eight test cases were completed, culminating in a 500-second long, full-duration static firing of the stage in the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis.
The Core Stage was the major new piece developed for the agency’s SLS launch vehicle, and both NASA and Boeing are pleased with results seen so far. Initial analysis and reviews of the test-firing data show that actual Main Propulsion System (MPS) performance was close to most predictions by analytical models and the system demonstrated operating margin during stressing tests conducted during the static fire.
NASA EGS, Jacobs preparing SLS Core Stage for Artemis 1 stacking
May 6, 2021
The Core Stage of NASA’s first Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle arrived at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and was moved into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on April 29. The stage is now in the hands of KSC’s Exploration Ground System (EGS) program and prime test operations and support contractor (TOSC) Jacobs.
The long-awaited milestone allows EGS and Jacobs to work towards putting the whole Orion/SLS vehicle together and beginning months of testing to get it ready for the launch of Artemis 1. The stage is now in the low bay of the VAB, where some “traveled” work from the recently-completed Green Run design verification campaign will be performed in parallel with preparations for stacking with the new launch vehicle’s Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB), which are already in place on the Mobile Launcher in VAB High Bay 3.
Ten month schedule to ready SLS for Artemis 1 launch after Core Stage arrives at KSC
May 3, 2021
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program is looking at a wide range of forecasts for when they can complete testing necessary to be ready to launch Artemis 1. The Core Stage of NASA’s first Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle arrived at the Kennedy Space Center and was moved into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on April 29 to prep for stacking with the new launch vehicle’s Solid Rocket Boosters, which are already in place on the Mobile Launcher in High Bay 3.
Approximately six months of work is anticipated to finish assembly and complete a long series of tests and checkouts of SLS and the Orion spacecraft it will send to the Moon, but current forecasts of this first-time integration work estimate closer to ten months to complete the necessary operations. After the vehicle is put together, weeks and weeks of testing to make sure SLS and Orion are properly talking to each
Aerojet Rocketdyne refurbishing RS-25 engines for Artemis 1 launch and production restart testing
April 9, 2021
With the completion of another single-engine RS-25 development test, Aerojet Rocketdyne is now refurbishing five engines at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for their next use. After the second test firing of the Retrofit 2 series in the A-1 Test Stand on April 6, development engine 0528 is going through a streamlined refurbishment prior to its next firing as a part of the production restart Retrofit 2 test series.
In parallel, the four RS-25 engines installed on the first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage in the nearby B Test Stand are being taken through a longer refurbishment checklist for flight engine hardware. The next planned ignition for those Core Stage engines is for the first SLS launch on the Artemis 1 mission to send an Orion spacecraft to lunar orbit.