While planning the space launch system rocket, Daft Punk must have overheard the words of NASA staff, keeping "harder, better, faster, stronger" in mind.
The SLS was built for many people who are chasing deep space travel ambitions (hopefully) to perform their first mission, and once completed, it will earn the title of the most powerful rocket in the world. In a video released Monday, NASA explains the complex challenges posed to engineers by assembling components built across the United States.
9.2 million pounds of thrust
The SLS rocket uses four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters to produce a massive thrust of 9.2 million pounds, delivering 15 percent more power than Saturn V, the last rocket to send humans to the moon.
Of those 2 million pounds, came from four RS-25 engines, each as big as a car. They run on supercooled hydrogen and oxygen, producing large amounts of steam, but burning clean. One of the engines, the E2045, led John Glenn on his last space mission, STS-95. But two solid rocket boosters — each 17 stories high, more than the height of the Statue of Liberty — provided most of the power, each with 3.6 million pounds of thrust.
As one of the many components of the SLS core class, the front skirt will house a number of flying computers, designed to withstand possible dangers at launch.
Weighing 270,000 pounds and 212 feet long, the SLS's core stage is not only the largest rocket built by NASA, but also taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Big projects require big work teams
To build such a massive vehicle, NASA used a large astonishing space: the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), 525 feet high, holds the record for the world's tallest single-story building. With such a large space, it would take longer to do anything: The 456-foot-tall door would take about 45 minutes to fully open or close.
However, before assembling SLS, all the parts must be assembled together, since the individual parts are manufactured nationwide. Northrop Grumman built the fuel and engine components for the rocket booster in Utah, while Boeing built the core components at NASA's Michud Assembly Plant (MAF) in New Orleans.
NASA arranged the itinerary for the stopover in the middle. For example, once the core-level components are built, they will be sent to NASA's MAF, and then to the Stanis Space Center in Mississippi. "We plan to put it on a test bench where NASA will use four engines for startup," Tracy McMahan, a NASA public affairs officer, told Tracy McMahan. If all goes well, the core phase will be returned to the vehicle assembly center for assembly checks.
VAB serves as the main position, where cranes stack hardware together.
Put them together
The final assembly of the three stages begins with assembling a digital simulator and then practicing with replicas before NASA builds the actual rocket. McMahan explained that NASA may keep the replica or lend it to the museum after its duties are completed. The crane operator of The High Bay Three will direct the construction of the rocket from above, ready to brake remotely in an emergency.
View from the floor of the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. The crane operator will supervise the construction of the SLS from above
After postponing the original launch date for 2018 to 2019, NASA set the launch date for EM-1 in June 2020, starting a 25-and-a-half-day lunar landing and return mission for the unmanned Orion space capsule. Hopefully, NASA's efforts will be a resounding success.
Related knowledge
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for developing, implementing, and conducting research in aeronautical and space sciences in the United States.
On July 29, 1958, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower signed the National Air and Space Act, creating NASA, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), and became operational in October 1958. Since then, NASA has been responsible for U.S. space exploration, such as the Apollo program that landed on the moon, SkyLab, and the subsequent space shuttle. Since February 2006, NASA's vision has been to "pioneer the future of space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautical research." NASA's mission is to "understand and protect the planets we depend on for survival; to explore the universe and find life beyond Earth; to inspire our next generation to explore the universe." In addition to the space program, NASA conducts long-term civil as well as military aerospace research.
NASA is widely regarded as the bull's ear holder in space agencies around the world. NASA uses earth observation systems to improve understanding of the earth,[8] and solar science through the solar science research program. NASA focuses on exploring all objects in the solar system using advanced robotic spacecraft such as the New Horizons mission,[10] and uses the Large Orbit Observatory program and related programs to study topics in astrophysics, such as the Big Bang theory. NASA shares its research data with many national and international organizations in the United States. It is the world's largest government space agency.
BY: Tiffany Jeung
FY: Dong Meihui
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