News Space Launch System News

[Andy44]

Whatever else comes of this, keeping the RS-25 alive is a good thing. Fantastic engine.

 

[K_Jameson]

Wonderful machine.

 

[DaveS]

Official video of today's RS-25 hot-fire:

 

[DaveS]

Video of today's successful 500 second hot-fire of RS-25 S/N E-0528 with the newest Main Engine Controller (MEC), S/N FM-03. This is the third of five MECs that will fly on EM-1. It is only the second MEC to be hot-fired. It is expected that four of the five (FM-02, FM-03, FM-04 and FM-05) will hot-fired on the A1 test stand at Stennis Space Center. FM-01 will be flight qualified through lab testing only: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/testing-controller-rs-25-hot-fire-test-sls-stennis/

 

[DaveS]

Some recent news on SLS:

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/sy...cket-boosters-on-target-for-first-flight.html

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/07/mobile-launcher-armed-ready-sls/

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/07/rs-25-hot-fire-sls-flight-engines-em-1/

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/07/installation-flame-deflector-sls-begins-39b/

---------- Post added 08-04-17 at 12:29 AM ---------- Previous post was 08-03-17 at 12:35 AM ----------

Latest news on Pad 39B: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/08/pad-39b-final-stages-preparation-sls-mobile-launcher/

 

[DaveS]

Today's successful 500 second hotfire of RS-25 E0528 using MEC FM-6:

 

[GLS]

It's visible that after ignition and "mainstage" operation at 100% is achieved, the engine throttles up to (I presume) 109%. :yes:

 

[Nicholas Kang]

Kennedy Space Center Water Flow Test at Launch Complex 39-B For SLS

Water flowed during a test at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. About 450,000 gallons of water flowed at high speed from a holding tank through new and modified piping and valves, the flame trench, flame deflector nozzles and mobile launcher interface risers during a wet flow test at Launch Complex 39B. At peak flow, the water reached about 100 feet in the air above the pad surface. The test was a milestone to confirm and baseline the performance of the Ignition Overpressure/Sound Suppression system. During launch of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, the high-speed water flow will help protect the vehicle from the extreme acoustic and temperature environment during ignition and liftoff.

 

[gattispilot]

So now we know that when the SLS launches it will have a checker boards on her and the srb.

But the Advanced Booster Dark Knight, Really Black srb? Who knows when Block 2 gets built it might be different

 

[Capt_hensley]

So now we know that when the SLS launches it will have a checker boards on her and the srb.

But the Advanced Booster Dark Knight, Really Black srb? Who knows when Block 2 gets built it might be different

I would be tickled to have a link to the latest rendering, anyone game?

 

[PDF]

" latest rendering "

I'm currently working on that with John & Kang. how does next Tuesday sound >

 

[Capt_hensley]

" latest rendering "

I'm currently working on that with John & Kang. how does next Tuesday sound >

The OML has changed so much from 5 years ago I can't seem to keep up with NASA's latest PPT, or for that matter, The latest NSF 3D renders. Tuesday is good, this century would be better

 

[IronRain]

NASA releases Request For Information for new Orion Service Module engine

NASA has released a Request For Information for a new engine the agency will use on the Orion European Service Module beginning with EM-6 (Exploration Mission 6). The Request For Information states that the engine is needed by mid-2024 in order to support the EM-6 flight of the Space Launch System, which under the currently in effect budget and operational timeline for NASA will be No Earlier Than 2027.

Orion Service Module engine RFI:

As part of NASA’s plan to utilize as much hardware that remained at the end of the Space Shuttle program as possible for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion capsule, the agency mandated that Orion’s European Service Module (ESM) utilize the leftover Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines for the first five Orion/ESM flights.

The supply of available Shuttle OMS engines will run out after EM-5, currently slated for No Earlier Than 2026, as the European Service Module is expended at the end of each flight and not reused. As such, NASA requires a replacement engine beginning with EM-6, and the agency took the first step toward that replacement yesterday in releasing a Request For Information (RFI) to the aerospace industry.

Source:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/02/nasa-releases-rfi-new-orion-service-module-engine/

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, must it have the same thrust then? :hmm:

 

[Notebook]

23 April 2018
The European service module that will provide power, water, air and electricity to NASA’s Orion Moon module has taken a large step closer to completion with the installation of its fuel tanks and testing of its solar wings.
Orion will eventually fly beyond the Moon with astronauts. The first mission – without astronauts – is getting ready for launch in 2019.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Orion/Fuel_tanks_and_wings_for_Orion_module

 

[Nicholas Kang]

Not a good news.

NSF: Schedule for First SLS Core Stage Still Sliding

A recent assessment of the completion date for the first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage now puts it at the end of May, 2019, close to the middle of next year. The date indicates that production and assembly schedules are still sliding and is reducing confidence in meeting the June, 2020 date that was at the late end of NASA’s schedule forecast for the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) launch.

The May, 2019 forecast completion date for the Core Stage would mean most of that schedule risk has already been realized before a stretch of critical integrated testing can begin with the Stage “Green Run” campaign.

*Personal thought: Seriously, what's wrong with the SLS program? Why is it taking so long? (I don't like to compare, but contrast this with unmanned missions like those of JPL, Goddard etc. the manned program seems to be forever in progress, never coming to a fruitful end.) :shrug:

I miss the glory Apollo days... (They build the Saturn V like sausages! :lol NASA's manned program today simply lack the will and motivation to progress. And someone else is catching up.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Why does it keep sliding behind schedule? Because the SLS program isn't a real priority. It's a corporate welfare program that will wind up being cancelled, just like Constellation was
:dry:

 

[GLS]

Contamination found in SLS engine tubing
NASA is dealing with a contamination problem with tubing in part of the core stage of the first Space Launch System vehicle, an issue that could contribute to further delays for its launch.
http://spacenews.com/contamination-found-in-sls-engine-tubing/

That contamination turned out to be paraffin wax, which is used to keep the tubes from crimping while being manufactured but is supposed to be cleaned out before shipment.
That's why the date keeps sliding... :uhh:

 

[Urwumpe]

A nice graphic of the EM-1 mission has been published:

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/exploration-mission-1-map

 

[N_Molson]

Like 10 years I'm waiting for this one and the wait isn't over yet :lol:

Oh well after all it was the same timescale from New Horizons launch to the pics of Pluto's surface.