Space Launch System (SLS)

[raklian]

[weatheriscool]

NASA Begins Testing New Engines for Space Launch System
It's going to run out of old Space Shuttle boosters eventually.
By Ryan Whitwam October 23, 2023
https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/n ... nch-system

NASA's return to the moon, known as the Artemis Program, is powered by its shiny new Space Launch System (SLS). However, not every part of that rocket is new. It relies on RS-25 engines repurposed from the Space Shuttle program, but NASA's supply of old engines is finite. The agency has begun a series of "hot fire" tests to help engineers build a new family of RS-25 boosters that will catapult SLS into space beginning in the late 2020s.

The Space Launch System is currently the world's most powerful operational rocket. That will change as soon as SpaceX gets the kinks in Starship worked out, but the SLS is still an obscenely powerful launch vehicle. When it clears the tower, the SLS is propelled by two enormous solid rocket boosters and four RS-25 engines. The solid boosters account for most of the power, but those RS-25s are essential to keep the rocket flying after the solid boosters are exhausted.

[raklian]

[Tadasuke]

NASA Begins Testing New Engines for Space Launch System
It's going to run out of old Space Shuttle boosters eventually.

Imagine newest electric cars using engines, steering systems or batteries used in the 1980s and designed in the 1970s. Space Shuttle boosters were being designed when Atari 2600 gaming console came out. It feels unreal.

[weatheriscool]

Boeing and NASA decide to move forward with historic crewed launch of new spacecraft

Source: CNN World

Updated 8:38 PM EDT, Thu April 25, 2024

CNN — After years of delays and a dizzying array of setbacks during test flights, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is finally set to make its inaugural crewed launch.

The mission is on track to take off from Florida as soon as May 6, carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station, marking what could be a historic and long-awaited victory for the beleaguered Starliner program.

“Design and development is hard — particularly with a human space vehicle,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and Starliner program manager at Boeing, during a Thursday news briefing. “There’s a number of things that were surprises along the way that we had to overcome. … It certainly made the team very, very strong. I’m very proud of how they’ve overcome every single issue that we’ve encountered and gotten us to this point.”

Boeing and NASA officials made the decision Thursday to move forward with the launch attempt in less two weeks. However, Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, noted that May 6 is “not a magical date.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/25/world/bo ... index.html