Video Transcript:
NASA is preparing for a journey back to the Moon, and after that, were setting our sights on Mars.
To get there, we need lots of rocket power, originating from our Space Launch System.
When it pertains to how much power this thing can press out, this thing is huge. Its going to be mesmerizing to stand beside this massive lorry.
The vastness of it, understanding that this thing is going to be moving a rocket into space and around the moon.
Hang on, its probably best to draw back at the start.
Everything began in Promontory, Utah, where Northrop Grumman produced each of the sections that make up the rockets boosters.
After a 10-day, cross-country journey, the booster sections were provided to Kennedy Space Centers Rotation, Processing, and Surge Facility, or RPSF. If this all sounds familiar, thats because its the exact same center that was utilized to process shuttle booster sections, which all originated from Utah.
Then, theyre all set to go into the renowned Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, where the rest of the motor segments are assembled and stacked on top of the mobile launcher.
The one thing about this car, obviously, its produced all across the country. The elements all come here. They may be constructed around the country, however they all come together right here in the Vehicle Assembly Building.
Our SLS rocket will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to break through Earths gravitational pull. Thats more power than the Space Shuttle and the Saturn V rocket used.
Groups with NASAs Exploration Ground Systems are accountable for putting together the boosters that will house most of that power. The twin strong rocket boosters, comprised of 10 total motor sections, will stand almost 17 stories high when fully stacked.
Initially, groups examine and prep the hardware. Next, theyre prepared to begin stacking the segments– a process that takes some time, perseverance, and a constant hand.
Once we have actually whatever carried out in High Bay 4, we choose up the section with a 325 foot crane, pick it up over the 16th-floor crossover to where you see it now, and we begin stacking the segments. Each segment we raise over the 16th-floor crossover and stack it. As soon as we stack it, we put it on top of the section below, and we put about 177 pins all the method around the entire thing to attach each segment.
And, the pressure to carry out the operation flawlessly can check the groups nerves.
Theres an incredible obligation involved with processing flight hardware like this. Its aggravating at times, however its amazing. Theres absolutely no appetite for danger in a program like this.
We have a bunch of shuttle guys that are here to show us along the way. Theyre there to assist us if we get stuck. At the start of stacking, it was very of nerve-racking. With each segment that we stacked, a little bit of the nerve comes off. By the fourth or 3rd one, its easy-peasy. Were pressing through, all the jitters are gone, and were simply excited to get finished with it.
With all 10 booster segments now completely stacked on the mobile launcher, theres just one last piece of the puzzle to round out the power required to get SLS off the ground and send it to area: core stage.
After a 900-mile trip aboard NASAs Pegasus barge, the SLS core phase– thelargest rocket stage NASA has ever developed– has actually made it to Kennedy Space Center.Today is a big day. This is the last piece of huge hardware that we need for Artemis 1 hard processing. And weve simply been waiting a long period of time for this part of the automobile to arrive so that we can get going on the next steps of our stacking operations.
Standing an outstanding 212 feet tall, and weighing a massive 188,000 pounds, the core stage came all the way from Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The core phase went through round after round of extensive screening, including whats called its Green Run series, genuinely putting its efficiency to the test.
The series included eight rounds that looked at systems separately prior to culminating in pure power. With over 700,000 gallons of propellant flowing through the core phase, and its RS-25 engines shooting for 8 minutes directly, the successful last test led to some huge feelings from the team.
We cried, we laughed, and we cheered due to the fact that it was so psychological to fume years of conclusion coming through.
And, that victory did not come without conquering a few difficulties, proving why at NASA we test as frequently and as hard as we do.
We in fact did a one-minute test on the first hot-fire test and after that we discovered a lot from that. We comprehended the lorry more, we made a couple of modifications, and after that we got back into our second hot-fire test.
There was a great deal of happiness and craftsmanship and ownership of having the ability to work that process and have the ability to get it done. When we opted for the 2nd hot fire, and we went for the 500 seconds, that was just pure exhilaration.
Following its arrival at Kennedy, groups moved the core stage into the VAB, where it was lifted by crane and positioned in between the twin strong rocket boosters.
Working as the backbone of the rocket, the core phase will supply more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help send the Orion spacecraft on its trip around the Moon.
Basically, we have these two huge cranes that lie within the VAB, where we go on and we choose two points at the end of the core stage– one on the back part of it and on the front part of it– we lift it approximately the point where were able to shift it from a horizontal position over into a vertical position, and after that essentially bring it method as much as the top of the Vehicle Assembly Building and cross it over into High Bay 3, in which we make sure that we do not damage any part of the vehicle as its incoming into its position.
NASAs biggest rocket stage, now totally integrated with the twin boosters, is all set to get Orion off the Earth. It will take one more vital part to give the pill that extra push it needs to journey tens of thousands of miles beyond the Moon.
With simply a single RL10 engine, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or ICPS, will offer over 20,000 pounds of thrust to send out Orion on the trip of a lifetime.
To link the ICPS with the rocket stack, groups next added the launch automobile stage adapter to the core phase, followed by the ICPS.
The ICPS is the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and basically, its somewhat of the upper phase of the whole SLS car. And what that will do is propel the Orion pill in addition to the service module over to its destination, which at this moment in time will be the Moon.
Prior to the spacecraft can be attached to the rocket, teams will carry out a series of tests to make sure all of SLSs parts communicate correctly with one another, plus the ground systems devices, the Launch Control System, and its software application.
Adding to the difficulty, those approaches for testing have actually altered substantially given that the days of the Apollo Program.
Built in the 1960s to house the assembly of the Saturn V, the largest rocket made by people at the time for Apollo objectives to the Moon, the VAB has actually undergone some significant adjustments to support a number of various kinds of rockets and spacecraft, whether theyre going into low-Earth orbit or venturing to deep area.
This high bay was Shuttle heritage. Before that it was Apollo heritage. Theres upgrades that are still taking place today to include upgrades that will support Artemis II and Artemis III.
When SLS blasts off from Kennedys Launch Pad 39B, Orion isnt the only thing it will be sending out to space. Hitching a trip with Orion are small, shoe-box sized satellites– called CubeSats– that were filled into the Orion phase adapter in Kennedys Space Station Processing Facility.
The extra space in the phase adapter supplies an unusual chance to send those CubeSats to deep area to conduct science and research of their own.
And, these CubeSats are on tap to study a range of subjects– from the Moon, to asteroids, to the impact of space radiation on living organisms.
At this point, the stack is almost total– all thats missing out on is the spacecraft itself, which has been in the Launch Abort System Facility getting outfitted with one of the spacecrafts most important pieces.
The launch abort system is sort of that pointy strong rocket motor thats at the top of Orion, and its there to safeguard the crew in case of an emergency situation so its a very essential system. Totally integrated with its launch abort system, the Orion spacecraft gradually makes its method to the VAB in the overnight hours.
Upon its arrival, groups carefully raise and decrease it onto the Orion phase adapter. With this operation, stacking the most effective rocket the world has actually ever seen is complete– and, what a sight to behold.
Were trying to decide what does exploration appear like in the future when we retire Shuttle? You know, what does our nation wish to do? Where do we want to go? How do we desire to check out?
To see it go from those days of words and concepts in individualss heads to the 3 programs we have today and the Artemis objective and all the hardware thats been produced in factories varying from, huge aerospace companies to little mother and pop shops all over the world and the country, its amazing. Im just really happy.
Before SLS and Orion can release our nation into a new age of space expedition, a series of tests need to take place inside the VAB, validating the rocket and spacecraft as an integrated system and leading the way for one, final milestone: wet gown rehearsal.
The 322-foot-tall, totally integrated rocket will roll out to Launch Pad 39B for a full test, allowing the launch team to go through a full launch countdown but stopping just except shooting the engines.
I think were going to be so happy when it rolls out of the VAB. Im probably going to be bawling when we launch it, see it through my tears, since its just a culmination of so much work from everyone.
We owe the development of science and research study and innovation to what were doing here. And, this is a huge opportunity for us as a nation to recover our spot at the leading edge of human space flight and expedition.
Artemis is going to be a major part of history. When it flies, it most absolutely is going to rock the area industry.
This program is going to go to the Moon. Its going to go to Mars.
Im so excited. Its going to be a great deal of work, a lot of work ahead of us, however Artemis I is going to surprise everyone.
Were pushing through, all the jitters are gone, and were simply thrilled to get finished with it.
After a 900-mile voyage aboard NASAs Pegasus barge, the SLS core phase– thelargest rocket phase NASA has actually ever developed– has made it to Kennedy Space Center.Today is a substantial day. And weve simply been waiting a long time for this part of the vehicle to arrive so that we can get going on the next actions of our stacking operations.
Im most likely going to be bawling when we release it, see it through my tears, because its simply a culmination of so much work from everyone.
Its going to go to Mars.
NASAs Space Launch System rocket will launch with Orion atop it from Launch Complex 39B at NASAs modernized spaceport at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA
Have you ever questioned what it requires to assemble the most effective rocket NASA has ever developed? Enjoy documentary video of NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rockets change into the over-300-foot-tall launch lorry that will return mankind to the Moon.
Beginning with production and ending with stacking operations inside NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, this is just the start of SLSs path to the launch pad.