[meteorite-list] NASA Space Launch System Core Stage Moves From Concept to Design

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:31:10 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201206212131.q5LLVAwN000601_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

June 21, 2012

Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto at nasa.gov

Jennifer Stanfield
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
jennifer.m.stanfield at nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-211

NASA SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM CORE STAGE MOVES FROM CONCEPT TO DESIGN

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- The nation's space exploration program is taking a
critical step forward with a successful major technical review of the
core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS), the rocket that will
take astronauts farther into space than ever before.

The core stage is the heart of the heavy-lift launch vehicle. It will
stand more than 200 feet (61 meters) tall with a diameter of 27.5
feet (8.4 meters).

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., hosted a
comprehensive review. Engineers from NASA and The Boeing Co. of
Huntsville presented a full set of system requirements, design
concepts and production approaches to technical reviewers and the
independent review board.

"This meeting validates our design requirements for the core stage of
the nation's heavy-lift rocket and is the first major checkpoint for
our team," said Tony Lavoie, manager of the SLS Stages Element at
Marshall. "Getting to this point took a lot of hard work, and I'm
proud of the collaboration between NASA and our partners at Boeing.
Now that we have completed this review, we go from requirements to
real blueprints. We are right on track to deliver the core stage for
the SLS program."

The core stage will store liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to feed
the rocket's four RS-25 engines, all of which will be former space
shuttle main engines for the first few flights. The SLS Program has
an inventory of 16 RS-25 flight engines that successfully operated
for the life of the Space Shuttle Program. Like the space shuttle,
SLS also will be powered initially by two solid rocket boosters on
the sides of the launch vehicle.

The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and other payloads, and
provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low
Earth orbit. Designed to be safe, affordable and flexible for crew
and cargo missions, the SLS will continue America's journey of
discovery and exploration to destinations including nearby asteroids,
Lagrange points, the moon and ultimately, Mars.

"This is a very exciting time for the country and NASA as important
achievements are made on the most advanced hardware ever designed for
human spaceflight," said William Gerstenmaier, associate
administrator for the Human Exploration Operations Mission
Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The SLS will power a
new generation of exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit and the
moon, pushing the frontiers of discovery forward. The innovations
being made now, and the hardware being delivered and tested, are all
testaments to the ability of the U.S. aerospace workforce to make the
dream of deeper solar system exploration by humans a reality in our
lifetimes."

The first test flight of NASA's Space Launch System, which will
feature a configuration for a 77-ton (70-metric-ton) lift capacity,
is scheduled for 2017. As SLS evolves, a two-stage launch vehicle
configuration will provide a lift capability of 143 tons (130 metric
tons) to enable missions beyond low Earth orbit and support deep
space exploration.

Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, including its
avionics. The core stage will be built at NASA's Michoud Assembly
Facility in New Orleans using state-of-the-art manufacturing
equipment. Marshall manages the SLS Program for the agency.

Across the SLS Program, swift progress is being made on several
elements. The J-2X upper-stage rocket engine, developed by Pratt &
Whitney Rocketdyne for the future two-stage SLS, is being tested at
Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The prime contractor for the
five-segment solid rocket boosters, ATK of Brigham City, Utah, has
begun processing its first SLS hardware components in preparation for
an initial qualification test in 2013.

For more information about the Space Launch System, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/sls

-end-
Received on Thu 21 Jun 2012 05:31:10 PM PDT