MICHOUD ASSEMBLY FACILITY, NEW ORLEANS - NASA Administrator Charles Bolden officially unveiled the world's largest welder to start construction of the world's most powerful rocket - NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket - at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Friday, Sept. 12, 2014.
Administrator Bolden was personally on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the base of the huge welder at Michoud's Vertical Assembly Center (VAC).
The welder is now officially open for business and will be used to manufacture the core stage of the SLS, NASA's mammoth heavy lift rocket that is intended to take humans to destinations far beyond Earth and farther into deep space than ever before possible - to Asteroids and Mars.
'This rocket is a game changer in terms of deep space exploration and will launch NASA astronauts to investigate asteroids and explore the surface of Mars while opening new possibilities for science missions, as well,' said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Michoud on Sept. 12.
'The Road to Mars starts at Michoud,' said Bolden, at the ceremony attended by Universe Today.
The SLS is designed to launch astronaut crews aboard NASA's next generation Orion deep space capsule concurrently under development.
The state-of-the-art welding giant stands 170 feet tall and 78 feet wide. It completes a world-class welding toolkit that will be used to assemble pieces of the SLS core stage including domes, rings and barrels that have already been manufactured. It will tower over 212 feet (64.6 meters) tall and sports a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 m).
The core stage stores cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage.
The SLS core stage builds on heritage from NASA's Space Shuttle Program.
The first stage propulsion is powered by four RS-25 space shuttle main engines and a pair of enhanced five segment solid rocket boosters (SRBs) also derived from the shuttles four segment boosters.
As I reported recently, NASA managers formally approved the development of the agency's mammoth Mars rocket after a thorough review of cost and engineering issues.
'The SLS Program continues to make significant progress,' said Todd May, SLS program manager.
'The core stage and boosters have both completed critical design review, and NASA recently approved the SLS Program's progression from formulation to development. This is a major milestone for the program and proof the first new design for SLS is mature enough for production.'
The maiden test launch of the SLS is targeted for November 2018 and will be configured in its initial 70-metric-ton (77-ton) version, top NASA officials announced at a briefing for reporters on Aug. 27.
The decision to move forward with the SLS comes after a wide ranging review of the technical risks, costs, schedules and timing known as Key Decision Point C (KDP-C), said Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot, at the briefing. Lightfoot oversaw the review process.
'After rigorous review, we're committing today to a funding level and readiness date that will keep us on track to sending humans to Mars in the 2030s - and we're going to stand behind that commitment,' said Lightfoot. 'Our nation is embarked on an ambitious space exploration program.'
Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news.
Dr. Ken Kremer is a speaker, scientist, freelance science journalist (Princeton, NJ) and photographer whose articles, space exploration images and Mars mosaics have appeared in magazines, books, websites and calanders including Astronomy Picture of the Day, NBC, BBC, SPACE.com, Spaceflight Now and the covers of Aviation Week & Space Technology, Spaceflight and the Explorers Club magazines. Ken has presented at numerous educational institutions, civic & religious organizations, museums and astronomy clubs. Ken has reported first hand from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral and NASA Wallops on over 40 launches including 8 shuttle launches. He lectures on both Human and Robotic spaceflight - www.kenkremer.com. Follow Ken on Facebook and Twitter
Tagged as: Charlie Bolden, MAF, Michoud Assembly Facility, NASA, SLS, sls core stage, Space Launch System (SLS), Space Shuttle, VAC, Vertical Assembly Center
Entities 0 Name: NASA Count: 12 1 Name: SLS Count: 9 2 Name: Ken Count: 2 3 Name: SLS Program Count: 2 4 Name: Bolden Count: 2 5 Name: Lightfoot Count: 2 6 Name: Charles Bolden Count: 2 7 Name: NEW ORLEANS Count: 2 8 Name: Earth Count: 2 9 Name: Todd May Count: 1 10 Name: Michoud Assembly Facility Count: 1 11 Name: Charlie Bolden Count: 1 12 Name: Michoud Count: 1 13 Name: NBC Count: 1 14 Name: Boeing Count: 1 15 Name: Princeton Count: 1 16 Name: Dr. Ken Kremer Count: 1 17 Name: Robert Lightfoot Count: 1 18 Name: BBC Count: 1 19 Name: Vertical Assembly Center Count: 1 20 Name: NASA Wallops Count: 1 21 Name: SPACE.com Count: 1 22 Name: Explorers Club Count: 1 23 Name: Cape Canaveral Count: 1 24 Name: Orion Count: 1 25 Name: MAF Count: 1 26 Name: Aviation Week & Space Technology Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1y51jRG Title: Up Aerospace, born in Highlands Ranch garage, shoots rockets for NASA Description: Posted: 09/14/2014 12:01:00 AM MDT HIGHLANDS RANCH - This is the story of a boy who dreamed of being an astronaut who now shoots rockets into space for NASA. In the late 1990s, Jerry Larson started Up Aerospace in his Highlands Ranch garage with the goal of inspiring high school and middle school kids to embrace science.
Post a Comment for "NASA Unveils World's Largest Welder to Build World's Most Powerful Rocket"