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NASA's Deep-space Rocket Intertank Loaded for Shipment, Structural Testing
Posted on 2/23/18 at 12:34 pm
Posted on 2/23/18 at 12:34 pm
LINK
A structural test version of the intertank for NASA's new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System, is loaded onto the barge Pegasus Feb. 22, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The intertank is the second piece of structural hardware for the rocket's massive core stage scheduled for delivery to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for testing. Engineers at Marshall will push, pull and bend the intertank with millions of pounds of force to ensure the hardware can withstand the forces of launch and ascent. The flight version of the intertank will connect the core stage's two colossal fuel tanks, serve as the upper-connection point for the two solid rocket boosters and house the avionics and electronics that will serve as the "brains" of the rocket. Pegasus, originally used during the Space Shuttle Program, has been redesigned and extended to accommodate the SLS rocket's massive, 212-foot-long core stage -- the backbone of the rocket. The 310-foot-long barge will ferry the flight core stage from Michoud to other NASA centers for tests and launch.
Space Launch System
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American Space Shuttle-derived heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle. It is part of NASA's deep space exploration plans[7][8] including a manned mission to Mars.[9][10][11] SLS follows the cancellation of the Constellation program, and is to replace the retired Space Shuttle. The NASA Authorization Act of 2010 envisions the transformation of the Constellation program's Ares I and Ares V vehicle designs into a single launch vehicle usable for both crew and cargo, similar to the Ares IV. The SLS is to be the most powerful rocket ever built[12] with a total thrust greater than that of the Saturn V,[13] putting the SLS into the super heavy-lift launch vehicle class of rockets.
A structural test version of the intertank for NASA's new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System, is loaded onto the barge Pegasus Feb. 22, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The intertank is the second piece of structural hardware for the rocket's massive core stage scheduled for delivery to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for testing. Engineers at Marshall will push, pull and bend the intertank with millions of pounds of force to ensure the hardware can withstand the forces of launch and ascent. The flight version of the intertank will connect the core stage's two colossal fuel tanks, serve as the upper-connection point for the two solid rocket boosters and house the avionics and electronics that will serve as the "brains" of the rocket. Pegasus, originally used during the Space Shuttle Program, has been redesigned and extended to accommodate the SLS rocket's massive, 212-foot-long core stage -- the backbone of the rocket. The 310-foot-long barge will ferry the flight core stage from Michoud to other NASA centers for tests and launch.
Space Launch System
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American Space Shuttle-derived heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle. It is part of NASA's deep space exploration plans[7][8] including a manned mission to Mars.[9][10][11] SLS follows the cancellation of the Constellation program, and is to replace the retired Space Shuttle. The NASA Authorization Act of 2010 envisions the transformation of the Constellation program's Ares I and Ares V vehicle designs into a single launch vehicle usable for both crew and cargo, similar to the Ares IV. The SLS is to be the most powerful rocket ever built[12] with a total thrust greater than that of the Saturn V,[13] putting the SLS into the super heavy-lift launch vehicle class of rockets.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 12:36 pm to DavidTheGnome
Rocket science is always fascinating.
Apparently you keep up with NASA's doings....so can you enlighten me in terms of where they are with rockets etc. I thought their program had been shelved until further notice.
Apparently you keep up with NASA's doings....so can you enlighten me in terms of where they are with rockets etc. I thought their program had been shelved until further notice.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 12:38 pm to DavidTheGnome
I want to watch the rocket testing at Stennis one day.
You never know when they are going to test though.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 12:41 pm to idlewatcher
quote:
Apparently you keep up with NASA's doings....so can you enlighten me in terms of where they are with rockets etc. I thought their program had been shelved until further notice.
This system would be capable of sending astronauts to the Moon and Mars.
It's competing with BFR from SpaceX in that regard.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 12:41 pm to idlewatcher
There's plenty of push to have the project cancelled but it's still being developed at the moment. Competition from private rocket companies is putting pressure on it plus politicians keep changing/cancelling the mission mandate. I think there's some posters on here that work for NASA that could probably give some better insight.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 1:00 pm to KosmoCramer
Cool thanks Kosmo and David. I did watch the SPaceX one and it was incredible.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 1:09 pm to DavidTheGnome
ugh. we've got to get away from solid propellant and sublight speeds. those technologies are pretty much 100 years old now. of course, ftl might not even be possible, so there's that.
regardless, we need to get as close as possible. even at light speed, exploring even our nearest neighbors is problematic.
regardless, we need to get as close as possible. even at light speed, exploring even our nearest neighbors is problematic.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 1:22 pm to KosmoCramer
Please tell me BFR is Big F'ing Rocket
Posted on 2/23/18 at 1:22 pm to loogaroo
quote:
want to watch the rocket testing at Stennis one day.
I was just coming to ask the question, of whether J Stennis will be used one day. I guess they don’t have the proper launch pad or something?
Posted on 2/23/18 at 1:26 pm to bfniii
quote:
egardless, we need to get as close as possible. even at light speed, exploring even our nearest neighbors is problematic.
Do you even special relativity bro? Accelerating matter to light speed requires infinite energy and we don't have a tesseract or zero point module yet.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 1:28 pm to Sparkplug#1
Posted on 2/23/18 at 1:31 pm to PrivatePublic
quote:
Do you even special relativity bro? Accelerating matter to light speed requires infinite energy and we don't have a tesseract or zero point module yet.
Our biggest problem isn’t trying to get to any appreciable percent of light speed at the moment, it’s simply how do we get mass into orbit affordably. There’s no way to traverse the stars when we don’t have a very good way off the earth in the first place. We are hurting for new tech, not just new rockets.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 1:32 pm to Coon
quote:
Please tell me BFR is Big F'ing Rocket
Officially it is not.
But I'd bet good money everyone at SpaceX had that in mind when they used that.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 1:38 pm to foshizzle
I think officially it actually was but then they changed it to the big falcon rocket to make the name more palatable for the media.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 2:03 pm to DavidTheGnome
Still amazes me they let morons from La build pieces of the rockets
Posted on 2/23/18 at 2:11 pm to DavidTheGnome
Interesting tidbit I found whilst researching NASA marine transportation:
Posted on 2/23/18 at 2:23 pm to bfniii
quote:
we've got to get away from solid propellant and sublight speeds.
Yup. Well sublight is a thing we are going to be stuck with, however I am still amazed at the lack of advancement in propulsion. We have refined it and made it more efficient, but still use it.
The main issue though is getting off this dang rock first. You need a lot of freaking thrust to do it and there is not a better way than blowing some chemical explosions out of your butt to do it.
If we can get to the point we can launch from space, there will be so many more options.
Electrothermal
Ion drive
Solar sails
Plasma propulsion engine
Thermal fission - apparently nobody like nuclear on the ground
A few decades out
Continuous fusion
Pulsed fusion
Antimatter - the holy grail
If we could devote some serious global resources and money to a space elevator that would help us truly jump start out journey into the final frontier.
To leave our solar system though we are going to have to figure our Warp Drives.
Posted on 2/23/18 at 2:45 pm to PrivatePublic
quote:i was referring to distance, not propulsion or consequences. alpha centauri is over 4 light years away. heck, the 7 months it takes to get to mars is problematic
Accelerating matter to light speed requires infinite energy and we don't have a tesseract or zero point module yet
Posted on 2/23/18 at 2:48 pm to DavidTheGnome
The SpaceX vs NASA new space race is awesome!
But SpaceX > NASA
But SpaceX > NASA
Posted on 2/23/18 at 2:59 pm to DarthRebel
quote:i just don't see how this is possible. the star trek idea was explained in one episode was creating a "wave" and the ship rides the wave. in reality, warp drive is conceived as compressing the space in front of the ship and consequently, the space behind the ship would be expanded. almost like what happens when a boat is pulled toward the dock so you can across the gap. how in the world do you "shrink" space?
figure our Warp Drives.
i just think getting to ftl speeds is going to either be cosmically impossible or out of our reach for a super long time. you almost need to reach a different understand of what cosmic existence even means.
fyi, you can't travel "through" a black hole (because it's not a "hole") and wormholes most likely don't exist. csb: time travel is not possible
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