SLS - space launch system (3-я попытка)

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https://www.gasworld.com/nasa-completes-welding-for-first-sls-flight/2013502.article

NASA completes welding of liquid oxygen tank for first Space Launch System flight

By Joanna Sampson 20 September 2017

NASA is another step closer to completing all main structures for the agency's first launch of the Space Launch System (SLS), a behemoth booster designed to send astronauts on expeditions into deep space.

The liquid oxygen (O2) flight tank was recently built in the Vertical Assembly centre robotic welder at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. After the liquid O2 tank was inspected, it was moved to another area for plug welding to fill the holes left by the friction stir welding process.

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Five major parts – the engine section, liquid hydrogen (H2) tank, intertank, liquid O2 tank and forward skirt – will be connected together to form the 212ft tall core stage, the backbone of the SLS rocket. Boeing, the prime contractor for the core stage, is welding the liquid H2 tank structure – the final major core stage structure to be built for the first integrated flight of SLS and the Orion capsule.

"This is a mission that truly will do what hasn't been done and learn what isn't known. It will blaze a trail that people will follow on the next Orion flight, pushing the edges of the envelope to prepare for that mission."
Mike Sarafin, Exploration Mission-1 Mission Manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington

The liquid H2 and O2 tanks will hold 733,000 gallons of propellant to power the stage's four RS-25 engines that together produce more than two million pounds of thrust.

The SLS, the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built, and Orion is expected to blast off from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's modernised spaceport at Kennedy Space Centre in 2019.

Exploration Mission-1, NASA's first test mission of the SLS rocket and Orion, will not have humans aboard but it will pave the way for future missions with astronauts. Ultimately, it will help NASA prepare for missions to the Red Planet.

Mike Sarafin, Exploration Mission-1 Mission Manager at NASA Headquarters in Washingston, said, "This is a mission that truly will do what hasn't been done and learn what isn't known. It will blaze a trail that people will follow on the next Orion flight, pushing the edges of the envelope to prepare for that mission."


Source: NASA/Jude Guidry

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Chris G - NSF‏ @CwG_NSF 4 мин. назад

#SLS EM-1 is now NET 15 Dec. 2019. EM-3 has received a preliminary flight plan for a 16-26 day mission. #NASA

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 28 мин. назад

ARTICLE: SLS EM-1 & -2 launch dates realign; EM-3 gains notional mission outline - https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/09/sls-em-1-em-3-notional-mission-outline/ ... - by @CwG_NSF

Спойлер

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SLS EM-1 & -2 launch dates realign; EM-3 gains notional mission outline

SLS EM-1 & -2 launch dates realign; EM-3 gains notional mission outline
September 22, 2017 by Chris Gebhardt

Following a series of issues over the last year with the Core Stage for the first flight of the Space Launch System rocket, the launch dates for both the EM-1 and EM-2 flights are beginning to align, with EM-1 now targeting No Earlier Than 15 December 2019 and EM-2 following on 1 June 2022. Additionally, the EM-3 flight has gained its first notional mission outline, detailing a flight to Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit to deploy the Hab module for the new Deep Space Gateway.
...

[Apollo13]

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Bill Ingalls‏Подлинная учетная запись @ingallsimages 18 ч назад

The 215-foot-tall structural test stand for NASA's Space Launch System. https://instagram.com/p/BZctG6FjEOr/ 


ingallsimages The 215-foot-tall structural test stand for NASA's Space Launch System, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017, at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

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Vice President Pence Visits NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA

Опубликовано: 25 сент. 2017 г.

Vice President Mike Pence offered his thanks Monday to employees working on NASA's human spaceflight programs during a tour of the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Vice President saw the progress being made on NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), the world's most powerful deep space rocket, that will send astronauts on missions around the Moon and ultimately to Mars. He also visited Marshall's Payload Operations Integration Center, where the agency manages all research aboard the International Space Station.

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 10 ч. назад

Final Assembly techs transferred @NASA_SLS #EM1 Ctr/Ctr booster segment for processing today in Promontory. EM-1 aft segment in background

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NASA Marshall‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA_Marshall 8 ч. назад

#NASAMarshall is testing @NASA_SLS hardware, including the engine section test article seen here today by @VP

[Чебурашка]

Опять трогал руками, что трогать нельзя? 

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https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/sls-core-stage-pathfinder-arrives-at-nasa-michoud.html

Sept. 28, 2017

SLS Core Stage Pathfinder Arrives At NASA Michoud


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The Space Launch System (SLS) core stage pathfinder, which is similar in similar in size, shape and weight to the 212-foot-tall core stage, arrived at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility early in the morning on September 27, 2017.  To reduce the risk of first-time operations with one-of-a-kind spaceflight hardware for SLS, the agency built a core stage pathfinder. Like SLS, the core stage pathfinder will be doing something that's never been done -- testing new shipping and handling equipment and procedures fr om the manufacturing site to the test site to the launch site.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/MAF/Steven Seipel

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Last Updated: Sept. 28, 2017
Editor: Lee Mohon

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/nasa-completes-core-stage-hardware-for-first-sls-flight

Sept. 28, 2017

NASA Completes Core Stage Hardware for First Space Launch System Flight

After completing major welding on the liquid hydrogen tank for NASA's Space Launch System's (SLS) first flight, all five parts of the rocket's core stage are built and ready for additional outfitting and testing. NASA also finished manufacturing all four core stage test articles, and testing is underway on the engine section structural test article at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Спойлер

NASA completed major welding for the liquid hydrogen tank for the first Space Launch System mission at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The tank was the final piece of flight hardware completed for the deep-space rocket's first mission. All five of the structures that will be joined to form the 212-foot-tall core stage, the backbone of the SLS rocket, are built. The liquid hydrogen tank measures more than 130 feet tall, comprises almost two-thirds of the core stage and holds 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit.
Credits: NASA/MSFC/MAF/Jude Guidry
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"The big items are done, and the team is focused on the intricate details of outfitting the flight hardware to perform specific tasks for the most powerful rocket in the world," said Chad Bryant, the SLS core stage manufacturing lead at Marshall. "When assembled, the core stage will stand taller than a 20-story building and include hundreds of cables for everything fr om data collection to propulsion systems."

Outfitting the Core Stage

Three core stages parts that require the most work inside are the engine section, where the four RS-25 engines will be housed, and the intertank and forward skirt that hold most of the avionics, or the brains of the rocket, that tell it how and where to fly.

"Think about this work like building a car," explained Bryant. "We have the main structure or frame built. Now, we are installing the guts and electronics that turn the rocket into a transportation system: propulsion systems in the engine section, computer and other electronics in the forward skirt and the intertank."

Then, to keep cryogenic propellant as cold as minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit and to protect the rocket against the harsh temperature environments experienced during launch and flight, engineers apply thermal protection insulation to every large piece on the outside as well as in critical places on the inside.

Testing the Tanks

To build the two largest core stage structures -- the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks that hold more than 700,000 gallons of propellant -- NASA welded the thickest structures ever joined using self-reacting friction stir welding. The Vertical Assembly Center, the world's largest robotic welder at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, did the job. NASA and Boeing, the core stage prime contractor, had to overcome challenges to weld aluminum at the thicknesses required for the massive rocket tanks.

The liquid oxygen tank is undergoing hydrostatic testing, which tests the weld strength by filling the tank with 200,000 gallons of water and subjecting the tank to similar pressures and forces that it will experience during flight.


The liquid oxygen tank--shown here as technicians inside the tank complete final welds to plug holes left by the robotic welder-- is undergoing the first hydrostatic testing for NASA's deep-space rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). The tank is filled with around 200,000 gallons of water that will simulate the propellant, loads, pressure and mass of the liquid oxygen. This test ensures that welds will hold to the right strength when exposed to forces similar to those experienced during launch and flight.
Credits: NASA/MSFC/MAF/Jude Guidry
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"This is the first time we are doing this test for an SLS tank, and it's a major milestone," said Ben Birkenstock, SLS stages manufacturing engineer at Marshall. "We've covered the tank with sensors, and we'll collect data to show the tank welds hold up when it is loaded with water that simulates propellant."
The liquid hydrogen tank is being plug welded to fill in holes left during the robotic welding process, and then it will undergo a different type of proof testing using nitrogen gas and load cells to simulate pressures and loads seen during flight. The liquid hydrogen structural qualification test article already completed this proof test.

SLS Pathfinder: Paving the Way for Core Stage Operations

The SLS core stage pathfinder arrived at Michoud on September 27, and now, the team will use it to hone upcoming SLS operations. The SLS pathfinder mockup and other ground support equipment are helping NASA prepare for upcoming operations with the entire core stage. Critical operations include assembling and moving the core stage at Michoud, transporting the core stage on NASA's barge Pegasus to the agency's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and lifting it into the giant B-2 test stand wh ere it will be hot-fired in a crucial pre-launch test called "the green run." After a successful test, Pegasus will take the entire stage to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, wh ere it will be integrated with the rest of the SLS hardware and Orion.


The Space Launch System (SLS) core stage pathfinder, which is similar in similar in size, shape and weight to the 212-foot-tall core stage, arrived at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility early in the morning on September 27, 2017. To reduce the risk of first-time operations with one-of-a-kind spaceflight hardware for SLS, the agency built a core stage pathfinder. Like SLS, the core stage pathfinder will be doing something that's never been done -- testing new shipping and handling equipment and procedures from the manufacturing site to the test site to the launch site.
Credits: NASA/MSFC/MAF/Steven Seipel
Read full captioon

The core stage pathfinder, built and assembled at G&G Steel in Cordova, Alabama, is the same size, shape, and weight as the core stage, and it will help NASA develop and practice all these crucial logistics and operations. Dynetics Corporation of Huntsville will be completing final outfitting of pathfinder and will turn it over to NASA in early October.

"NASA did not want to do complex operations for the first time with a one-of-a-kind piece of flight hardware," said Tim Flores, manager for stages ground support equipment. "The SLS core stage pathfinder will allow us to practice all these critical maneuvers with a dimensional replica of the core stage that is the same size, shape and weight as the valuable flight hardware."

Tracy McMahan
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
Tracy.McMahan@nasa.gov

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Last Updated: Sept. 29, 2017
Editor: Jennifer Harbaugh

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Inside KSC! for Sept. 29, 2017

NASAKennedy

Опубликовано: 29 сент. 2017 г.

The first major integrated operation at Launch Pad 39B began this week with the initial tanking of a cryogenic fuel, liquid oxygen, into a giant sphere at the northwest corner of the pad. Construction of new facilities and demolition of outdated facilities also continued as Kennedy Space Center completes the transition to a multi-user spaceport.

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АНОНС

Aerojet Rocketdyne‏ @AerojetRdyne 3 ч. назад

RS-25 engine test & @NASAStennis Open House Oct 19th! Register to attend, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ssc-public-open-house-engine-test-tickets-38155810055 ... #SLSFiredUp #SpaceUSA @NASA_SLS

Stennis Space Center‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASAStennis 28 сент.

NASA SSC will host an Open House on 10/19! For details & to register, visit https://ssc-open-house.eventbrite.com  #SSCOpenHouse2017 #56YearsofFireandRain

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/groundsystems/2017/10/03/liquid-oxygen-tanking-operations-begin-at-launch-pad-39b/

или

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2017/10/03/liquid-oxygen-tanking-operations-begin-at-launch-pad-39b/

Liquid Oxygen Tanking Operations Begin at Launch Pad 39B
Posted on October 3, 2017 at 11:48 am by Linda Herridge.


Several Praxair trucks carrying their loads of liquid oxygen, or LO2, arrived at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mist is visible as LO2 is offloaded from one of the trucks into the giant storage sphere located at the northwest corner of the pad. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The first major integrated operation at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida began with the initial tanking of a cryogenic fuel into a giant sphere at the northwest corner of the pad. The tanking operation is one of the steps needed to bring the center closer to supporting the launch of the agency's Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System rocket on its first uncrewed test flight.

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"When I think of launch operations, there are distinct pictures that come to mind," said NASA Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. "One of them is during the tanking operations as the cryogenic propellants are loaded into the Space Launch System rocket."

Several Praxair trucks arrived at the center and offloaded their liquid oxygen, or LO2, slowly, one at a time, into the cryogenic sphere to gradually chill it down from normal temperature to about negative 298 degrees Fahrenheit. Praxair, of Danbury, Connecticut, is the company that provides the agency with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.

Another wave of trucks arrived and offloaded their LO2 all at the same time. During the next several months, trucks will continue to arrive from Praxair and offload about 40,000 gallons of fuel two days per week into the sphere that can hold about 900,000 gallons of liquid oxygen.

The procedure to fill the liquid hydrogen storage sphere will begin in November and will be completed in the same way. When both tanks are filled to about halfway, engineers in a firing room in the Launch Control Center will perform pressurization tests. Additional tests will be performed with the mobile launcher around mid-2018. The cryogenic fuels will remain in the tanks.

Blackwell-Thompson said it is not uncommon during tanking to see vapors and mist in the cryo storage area and near the vehicle. This week, she got a preview, when the trucks offloaded the first round of LO2 and once again, cryo vapors were visible. Because some of the liquid oxygen boils off during tanking, additional LO2 is required.

"This is a very important step in our path to launch, and we are thrilled to have cryo propellant return to the pad," Blackwell-Thompson said.

The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is preparing the pad for the launch of Exploration Mission-1, deep space missions and the Journey to Mars. Significant upgrades to the pad include a new flame trench beneath the pad and a new flame deflector.

This entry was posted in GSDO on October 3, 2017 by Linda Herridge.

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https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/two-for-the-show-nasa-installs-2nd-rs-25-flight-engine-for-testing

Oct. 4, 2017

'Two For the Show' – NASA Installs 2nd RS-25 Flight Engine for Testing



RS-25 flight engine E2063 is delivered and lifted into place onto the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center on Sept. 27 in preparation for an Oct. 19 hotfire test. Once tested and certified, the engine is scheduled to help power NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) on its Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2), which will be the first flight of the new rocket to carry humans. The hotfire test is planned during a public Founders Day Open House event at Stennis, giving thousands of visitors the chance to view a flight engine test in person. The E2063 engine is the second SLS flight engine tested at Stennis. The E2059 engine was tested on the A-1 stand on March 10, 2016, also for use on the EM-2 flight. Stennis has been testing new flight engine controllers for use by engines on both the Exploration Mission-1 and EM-2 launches of the SLS rocket as well. It also will test the SLS core stage that will fly on the EM-1 mission. The SLS is being built to carry humans to deep-space destinations, including Mars.

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Credits: NASA/SSC


RS-25 flight engine E2063
Credits: NASA/SSC

Last Updated: Oct. 4, 2017
Editor: LaToya Dean

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[silentpom]

коллеги, миссию EM-2 в этой теме обсуждаем?

никто не знает, почему такой легкий первый модель Deep Space Gateway, ограничение в 8-9 тонн?
вообще цифры очень странные:  сам Орион - 26 тонн, модуль - 9 тонн, при этом не хватает силенок закинуть на translunar injection обоих сразу и применят двойную схему, когда SLS выведет связку только на 19.000 миль апогея, а дальше своим ходом.

а расчеты показывают, что у SLS на обычный translunar injection 45 тонн! или проблема в торможении модуля при выходе на гало орбиту?

[Astro Cat]

silentpom,Сатурн-5, грузоподьемностью 140 тонн на НОО, закидывала Аполло + хиленький ЛК. Более 40 тонн.
А 70 тонная  СЛС должна 45 тонн закидывать?

[silentpom]

у EM-2 должна быть ступень с 4мя RL-10, удельный импульс сильно выше,  чем у J-2 и для больших скоростей РН более могучая чем сатурн-5

[silentpom]

upd. если верить http://www.spacepropulsion.org/uploads/2/5/3/9/25392309/spaceaccess2014-25.pdf
то тут 37 тонн на транслунную траекторию, причем C3 = -2.0. Посмотрел какая C3 была у сатурна - получше, -1.5....-1.6

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Анимация



(взято отсюда)

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https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/infographics/start-your-engines-infographic

Oct. 10, 2017

Space Launch System: Start Your Engines



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NASA's new deep space rocket, the  Space Launch System (SLS), will launch missions powered by four RS-25 engines, reliable engines used for more than 135 space shuttle missions. The engines have been upgraded with new controllers and other features for SLS. Each engine has a unique number that allows engineers to track its flight history.
Image Credit: NASA/MSFC image: Kevin Obrien

Last Updated: Oct. 10, 2017
Editor: Jennifer Harbaugh