The Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) for future flights of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket has passed its Critical Design Review, or CDR. A panel of experts evaluated the EUS in the latest review to determine that the stage’s design meets requirements for future missions. This most recent assessment certifies the EUS meets critical design requirements to withstand deep space environments and when completed will ensure astronaut safety. The review board also evaluated testing processes, the ability of the industrial base to supply parts and tooling, and production plans. Boeing, the prime contractor for the EUS as well as the core stage, will manufacture and assemble the upper stage at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. A structural test article of the stage will undergo testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the SLS Program is managed. The flight article will undergo Green Run testing at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, before its first flight, similar to the SLS core stage Green Run testing currently in progress, including a hot firing of the engines.NASA is working to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. SLS and Orion, along with the human landing system and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, are NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration.
This video shows how crews at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are manufacturing and assembling the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) for the second flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The launch vehicle stage adapter in this video will be used for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program. The launch vehicle stage adapter is a cone-shaped piece of hardware that connects the rocket’s upper and lower stages. The LVSA is welded together as two unique cones, then stacked on top of one another. Technicians recently moved the aft cone to begin welding the LVSA at Marshall. While the larger stages of the SLS rocket are manufactured at other NASA facilities, the LVSA flight hardware is produced exclusively at Marshall by Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville. For more information about SLS
Meanwhile, at Stennis! A single RS-25 engine is going to be test fired on A-1, not to be confused with the four RS-25s on B-2.Developmental engine No. 0528 will be testing new TVC capabilities.
The RS-25 engine nozzle and powerhead, in all their glory.
Ignition! RS-25 No. 0528 fires up on the A-1 test stand at Stennis. Testing TVC capability, so we should see this one move the nozzle around a fair amount.PS Praise be for NASA TV clean feed coverage!
Thrust profiling! Watch the shock diamond!
And shutdown. Bang on 500 seconds duration. RS-25 making rain clouds again (someone local is going to get wet washing thanks to this - JC/Top Gear quote).Awesome engine. Written so many articles on these bad boys.https://nasaspaceflight.com/?s=SSME+RS
Technicians are manufacturing and testing the first in a series of initial weld confidence articles for the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) for future flights of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The Exploration Upper Stage will be used on the second configuration of the SLS rocket, known as Block 1B, and will provide in-space propulsion to send astronauts in NASA’s Orion spacecraft and heavy cargo on a precise trajectory to the Moon. The Exploration Upper Stage weld confidence panels are first produced in the Vertical Weld Center at Michoud, then small sections of the panels are removed for mechanical testing and analysis in another area of the factory. Teams use weld confidence articles to verify welding procedures, interfaces between the tooling and hardware, and the structural integrity of the welds. Testing of the EUS weld confidence articles will help engineers and technicians validate welding parameters for manufacturing EUS hardware.
SLS Program looking at NET March 16 (subject to change) for the second Static Fire test for the Artemis-1 Green Run at Stennis.SLS Articles:https://nasaspaceflight.com/news/artemis/Clip from https://youtube.com/watch?v=b24cFvO3ANk - by Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritist)
Progress in the night Technicians at @NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility recently began the process for the forward join, forming the top part of @NASA_SLS's core stage for #Artemis II. After integrating forward part systems, the team will form the bottom of the stage.
Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans stacked two of three hardware elements for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket in an assembly area in the facility on April 28. Crews connected the liquid oxygen tank flight hardware with the intertank. Later, they will add the forward skirt to form the upper portion of the core stage that will help power Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis Program and second flight of the SLS rocket. Crews moved the intertank to the assembly and stacking area in March, and then moved the liquid oxygen tank to the same area. The joining of the three structures together is the first major assembly of hardware for the Artemis II core stage. When completed, the upper part of the stage will stand 66 feet tall — just a fraction of the entire core stage. The fully-assembled, 212-foot-tall rocket stage consists of five hardware elements. Together, the core stage and its four RS-25 engines will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help send Artemis II astronauts beyond Earth’s orbit to lunar orbit. The liquid oxygen tank is one of two giant liquid propellant tanks on the core stage. It will hold 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) team fully stacked three hardware elements together May 24 to form the top of the rocket’s core stage for the Artemis II mission. NASA and core stage prime contractor Boeing connected the forward skirt with the liquid oxygen tank and intertank flight hardware inside an assembly area at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Teams had previously stacked the liquid oxygen tank and intertank on April 28. The joining of the three structures together is the first major assembly of core stage hardware for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission and second flight of the SLS rocket. Next, technicians will work to complete outfitting and integrating the systems within the upper structure.At 66 feet tall, the upper part of the stage is just a fraction of the entire core stage. The fully-assembled, 212-foot-tall rocket stage consists of five hardware elements, including two liquid propellant tanks and four RS-25 engines. The liquid oxygen tank in the upper portion of the stage will hold 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, the forward skirt and intertank house avionics, flight computer, and electronic systems for the rocket stage. Together, the core stage and its four RS-25 engines will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help send Artemis II astronauts beyond Earth’s orbit to lunar orbit.
https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1414613415570595852
Mods: if this isn't the right place for this, please move to the appropriate thread.Quote from: ChrisGebhardt on 07/12/2021 03:54 pmhttps://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1414613415570595852It seems to me that this article gives us the following batches of SLS.I've used the assumption of 1 Artemis/SLS flight per year starting in 2021. I know NASA has a different schedulebut I don't know the details.1st batch:Artemis 1-4 in 2021-2024MLP: 1st MLP for SLS that supports SLS Block 1. This batch will end use of this MLP.SRB: 5 segment SRB based on Ares 1, using shuttle SRB casings.SLS CS: Uses 4 shuttle SSME. This batch exhausts the SSME from the shuttle program.Stage 2: IIRC 4 ICPS are ordered from ULA. This batch ends use of ICPS.2nd batch:Artemis 5-8 in 2025-2028MLP: 2nd MLP for SLS that supports EUS.SRB: 5 segment SRB based on Ares 1, using shuttle SRB casings. This batch exhausts shuttle SRB casings.SLS CS: Uses 4 SSME from new production line.Stage 2: EUS.3rd batch:Artemis 9-10 in 2029-2030MLP: 2nd MLP for SLS that supports EUS.SRB: New BOLE SRB.SLS: Uses 4 SSME from new production line.Stage 2: EUS.After Artemis 10 the supply chain could support the Block 2 Cargo version.Carl
