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Stennis Space Center has released a new video highlighting preparations to test the core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
The video focuses on work performed to restore and renovate the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis for the SLS core stage project. Titled Six Years of Nonstop Work, the new video can be accessed via a link on the Stennis website or at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94ryD3b8qEE&feature=youtu.be.
NASA is building its SLS rocket to carry astronauts deeper into space than ever before, including to such destinations as the Moon and, ultimately, Mars. It has been testing RS-25 engines to help power the rocket on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis since January 2015.
In addition, NASA has spent the last six years renovating and preparing the B-2 stand to test the SLS core stage prior to its first launch. For the testing, the flight stage for the first SLS Exploration Mission-1 will be installed on the stand, then all four of its RS-25 engines test fired, just as will occur during an actual launch.
Six Years of Nonstop Work highlights the extent and range of work performed to prepare the stand. Engineers spent 18 months in the formulation phase, evaluating all B-2 facility structures and systems and identifying work needed for restoration and renovation of the stand, as well as for core stage testing.
Design, construction and activation work followed. The project was divided into three phases – restoring the stand to original condition after years without use, building the facility out to accommodate the SLS stage and installing all special test equipment needed.
The new video focuses on the build out stage, which was significant and featured upgrades of every major system on the stand, as well as the high-pressure system that provides hundreds of thousands of gallons of water needed during a test. It also involved extending the large derrick crane atop the stand, which will be used to lift the SLS stage into place.
The most visible work featured repositioning of the existing Main Propulsion
Test Article framework, which was used to test the space shuttle propulsion system in the 1970s. The shuttle framework stood 61 feet tall and included about 1.2 million pounds of fabricated steel. After it was repositioned 20 feet horizontally, an additional 1 million pounds of steel was added to extend the framework 100 feet to house the larger, taller SLS stage.
SLS core stage testing will mark the latest chapter in Stennis history, which tested
Saturn V stages and engines that carried humans to the Moon during the Apollo
Program, as well as engines used to power 135 space shuttle missions.
For more about the B-2 Test Stand project, visit:
For more information about Stennis Space Center, visit:
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