Space Launch System
134 articles
Ground teams begin process to hoist SLS core stage onto its launch platform
Technicians inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center began a delicate, multi-day task Thursday to lift the 94-ton core stage of the first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket for mounting between two solid-fueled boosters already stacked for a test flight to the moon.
Core of NASA’s first Artemis moon rocket towed into Vehicle Assembly Building
A decade in the making, the core stage for NASA's first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket rolled into the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center Thursday to join up with twin solid rocket boosters and an Orion capsule for an unpiloted test flight around the moon.
SLS core ready for shipment to Florida; NASA still hopes for late 2021 launch
Teams at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi removed the core of NASA's first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket from a test stand earlier this week for loading onto a barge to carry it to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the rocket stage is due to arrive by the end of the month to start final preparations for a test flight around the Moon.
NASA’s moon rocket scores an ‘A+‘ on critical engine test
The core piece of NASA's first huge Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket designed to carry astronauts back to the moon fired its main engines more than eight minutes Thursday in southern Mississippi, acing a crucial test before the it ships to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for liftoff.
VideoLive coverage: NASA completes eight-minute Space Launch System hot fire test
NASA fired up four hydrogen-fueled main engines on the core stage of the first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket Thursday in on a test stand in Mississippi, a redo of a crucial hot fire test that was cut short in January by technical issues. The engines burned more than eight minutes in an apparently successful test.
Stacking complete for SLS boosters
The twin 177-foot-tall solid-fueled boosters for the first flight of NASA's Space Launch System have been stacked inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center to await arrival of the rocket's cryogenic core stage, which is set for a second engine test on a firing stand in Mississippi later this month.
Stuck propulsion valve delays second SLS test-firing
A troublesome liquid oxygen valve on the Space Launch System's first flight-rated core stage will keep NASA from performing a second test-firing of the rocket's four main engines this week.
Hydraulic system issue triggered early engine shutdown during SLS test-firing
NASA officials said Tuesday the weekend test-firing of the Space Launch System moon rocket's core stage was cut short by an out-of-limits parameter in a hydraulic system for gimbaling, or vectoring, one of its engines. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told Spaceflight Now engineers are "feeling pretty good" about the data gathered during the shortened test-firing, and managers may decide to ship the SLS core stage to the Kennedy Space Center for launch preparations without re-attempting the planned eight-minute hot fire.
NASA studying cause of early end to moon rocket test-firing
A critical test-firing of NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket in Mississippi ended just 67 seconds after it began Saturday, well short of a planned eight-minute burn that was supposed to clear the way for the space agency to finally ship the rocket's core stage to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparations.
Video: SLS core stage test-firing ends early
The four RS-25 engines at the bottom of NASA's first Space Launch System core stage shut down about a minute into a ground test-firing Saturday that was supposed to last more than eight minutes.