Space Launch System - Orion
Discussion
I thought the Saturn V was in that picture for size comparison only - as it often is in such pictures. I don't se the Saturn V being revived in any way now - although a few years ago elements of the V were on the table as an option for future NASA launchers.
I am by no means anti-Musk. I think what he is doing and what he proposes are fantastic and I wish his endeavours all the best luck.
I do think he overstates his case sometimes - but he is gradually meeting the targets he sets for SpaceX so I do reckon he will get to do most of what he plans. I think the timescales will be a bit longer than he sometimes states - but he has admitted that few of his target dates are set in stone.
I am by no means anti-Musk. I think what he is doing and what he proposes are fantastic and I wish his endeavours all the best luck.
I do think he overstates his case sometimes - but he is gradually meeting the targets he sets for SpaceX so I do reckon he will get to do most of what he plans. I think the timescales will be a bit longer than he sometimes states - but he has admitted that few of his target dates are set in stone.
RobDickinson said:
So the first launch scheduled for Nov 2018 has been put back to 'some time' in 2019.
Mostly down to Trump wanting EM-1 to be a manned flight I think
Not really surprised - in fact I would say there's only a 50:50 chance of it flying before 2020. They only rolled out the structural test article for the core stage thrust structure this week, so it's a looong way yet from even test firing it with real engines attached.Mostly down to Trump wanting EM-1 to be a manned flight I think
Yep its not surprising at all.
Changes in budgets and requirements every 4 years isnt helping.
Fundamentally its a space shuttle spare parts bin but with congressional help they can spin development out almost indefinitely...
2020 would even be a surprise esp if the manned requirements are kept. by then there could be a new president with new direction...
Changes in budgets and requirements every 4 years isnt helping.
Fundamentally its a space shuttle spare parts bin but with congressional help they can spin development out almost indefinitely...
2020 would even be a surprise esp if the manned requirements are kept. by then there could be a new president with new direction...
Seems part of the test tank has been damaged during assembly 
http://www.space.com/36812-nasa-sls-rocket-test-ta...
http://www.space.com/36812-nasa-sls-rocket-test-ta...
NASA has met a milestone completing the welding on a liquid oxygen tank test article and beginning welding the liquid oxygen tank that will be part of the first Space Launch System deep space rocket. This tank and the liquid hydrogen tank are the parts of the SLS core stage that hold more than 700,000 gallons of propellant to power the rocket’s four RS-25 engines. Inside the Vertical Assembly Building at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, four fuel tanks are being built and processed simultaneously. Engineers are building core stage tanks that will fly on the first SLS flight and tanks that will provide valuable test data. In the world’s largest robotic rocket welder, the Vertical Assembly Center (left back), the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, Boeing, is welding a flight tank for the first SLS flight with Orion. Engineers just built an almost identical tank, the liquid oxygen tank qualification test article (right front). On the same side of the building, technicians are washing the interior of the liquid hydrogen structural qualification test article (right back). When completed, these core stage test articles travel by barge to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for structural testing that will demonstrate that the tanks structures can withstand the harsh environments of flight and perform as designed. In the middle of the floor in the above image, engineers are practicing operations with a liquid hydrogen tank built for flight. The left front of the building is currently empty, but it serves as a vertical stacking area where tanks and other core stage hardware can be stacked, assembled and inspected.
Image credit: NASA/Michoud/Jude Guidry
Welding is complete on the largest piece of the core stage that will provide the fuel for the first flight of NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, with the Orion spacecraft in 2018. The core stage liquid hydrogen tank has completed welding on the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Standing more than 130 feet tall, the liquid hydrogen tank is the largest cryogenic fuel tank for a rocket in the world. The liquid hydrogen tank and liquid oxygen tank are part of the core stage -- the "backbone" of the SLS rocket that will stand at more than 200 feet tall. Together, the tanks will hold 733,000 gallons of propellant and feed the vehicle's four RS-25 engines to produce a total of 2 million pounds of thrust. This is the second major piece of core stage flight hardware to finish full welding on the Vertical Assembly Center. The core stage flight engine section completed welding in April. More than 1.7 miles of welds have been completed for core stage hardware at Michoud. Traveling to deep space requires a large rocket that can carry huge payloads, and SLS will have the payload capacity needed to carry crew and cargo for future exploration missions, including NASA's Journey to Mars.
Image Credit: NASA/MAF/Steven Seipel
The propulsion system that will give the Orion spacecraft the in-space push needed to travel thousands of miles beyond the moon and back has completed major assembly at United Launch Alliance in Decatur, Alabama. The Boeing-designed interim cryogenic propulsion stage is a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen-based system that will give Orion an extra punch of power on the first, uncrewed flight of the spacecraft with NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, in late 2018. The first integrated exploration mission will allow NASA to use the lunar vicinity as a proving ground to test systems farther from Earth, and demonstrate Orion can get to a stable orbit in the area of space near the moon in order to support sending humans to deep space, including the Journey to Mars. With major assembly now complete on the flight hardware, the ICPS has several more steps to go, including avionics installation at the ULA-Decatur factory; barge and road transport to the Delta Operating Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, for avionics and system-level testing; and delivery to NASA in mid-2017.
Image Credit: ULA
Revised look for the SLS, replacing the stripes in previous renders with photogrammetry targets
Full article here https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/space...
I guess I need to update the decal sheet for the SLS kit I make...again...
Full article here https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/space...
I guess I need to update the decal sheet for the SLS kit I make...again...
Eric Mc said:
They should go the whole hog and paint the core section black and white - as they showed in the original images released back in 2014.
Doesn't painting it add significant weight to something that size? I would have thought that leaving them bare would be the optimum solution. They aren't re-usable are they?A couple of hundred pounds.
On the Shuttle, that was critical as everything hinged on cargo capability - especially for commercial customers which is what was hoped would fund the Shuttle programme.
That was why they eliminated the white paint from the 3rd mission on.
The Shuttle External Tank also features external insulation. The Saturn V had (limited) internal insulation. It is the external insulation that gives the ET than slightly rough texture and is naturally a pinky/orange shade. Sunlight causes the colour to change over time which is why no two ETs were identical in colour.
On the Shuttle, that was critical as everything hinged on cargo capability - especially for commercial customers which is what was hoped would fund the Shuttle programme.
That was why they eliminated the white paint from the 3rd mission on.
The Shuttle External Tank also features external insulation. The Saturn V had (limited) internal insulation. It is the external insulation that gives the ET than slightly rough texture and is naturally a pinky/orange shade. Sunlight causes the colour to change over time which is why no two ETs were identical in colour.
Eric Mc said:
A couple of hundred pounds.
On the Shuttle, that was critical as everything hinged on cargo capability - especially for commercial customers which is what was hoped would fund the Shuttle programme.
That was why they eliminated the white paint from the 3rd mission on.
The Shuttle External Tank also features external insulation. The Saturn V had (limited) internal insulation. It is the external insulation that gives the ET than slightly rough texture and is naturally a pinky/orange shade. Sunlight causes the colour to change over time which is why no two ETs were identical in colour.
Thought so, thanks Eric. On the Shuttle, that was critical as everything hinged on cargo capability - especially for commercial customers which is what was hoped would fund the Shuttle programme.
That was why they eliminated the white paint from the 3rd mission on.
The Shuttle External Tank also features external insulation. The Saturn V had (limited) internal insulation. It is the external insulation that gives the ET than slightly rough texture and is naturally a pinky/orange shade. Sunlight causes the colour to change over time which is why no two ETs were identical in colour.
The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, packed inside a canister, exits the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta Operations Center near Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for its move to the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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