(Artist’s conception of the SLS – Photo Credit: NASA/MSFC)
Following the completion of a Critical Design Review (CDR), Boeing has signed a $2.8 billion contract with NASA to begin full production of the core stage of the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), the first human space exploration vessel since Saturn V – the rocket that sent man to the moon.
The Critical Design Review is a major milestone which, when completed, signals that the rocket is ready for production. During the evaluation, experts confirmed and approved the final designs of the rocket’s cryogenic stages, reviewing more than 3,000 core stage components.
“Completing the CDR is a huge accomplishment, as this is the first time a stage of a major NASA launch vehicle has passed a critical design review since the 1970s,” announced Tony Lavoie, manager of the Stages Office at NASA’s Marshall Centre. “In just 18 months since the Preliminary Design Review, we are ready to go forward from design to qualification production of flight hardware,” he added.
SLS (Space Launch System) Programme Manager, Todd May, confirmed, “The SLS programme team completed the core stage critical design review ahead of schedule and continues to make excellent progress towards delivering the rocket to the launch pad… Our entire prime contractor and government team has been working full-steam on this programme since its inception.”
(Artist’s conception of the SLS on the launchpad – Photo Credit: NASA/MSFC)
Under this signed contract, Boeing will begin production of the 200-feet core stage. This section of the vehicle will hold cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which will be used to feed the rocket’s massive RS-25 engines during flight. Boeing will also develop the avionics system for the SLS and study the Exploration Upper Stage, which will further expand the mission range and payload capabilities of the rocket.
“Our teams have dedicated themselves to ensuring that the SLS — the largest ever — will be built safely, affordably and on time,” said Virginia Barnes, Boeing SLS Vice President and Programme Manager. She added, “We are passionate about NASA’s mission to explore deep space. It’s a very personal mission, as well as a national mandate.”
NASA plans to use SLS to launch its Orion spacecraft on manned, deep space journeys to the Moon and Mars, therefore the rocket is designed to be flexible to meet the needs of a variety of crew and cargo missions. The first version of the SLS will have a 70 metric-ton lift capacity, however over time, the SLS launch vehicle will evolve to become the most powerful rocket ever built. It will provide an unprecedented lift capability of 130 metric tons, 20 per cent more thrust than the Saturn V, which will enable SLS to propel astronauts even deeper into our solar system.
(Artist’s conception of the SLS – Photo Credit: NASA/MSFC)
“”We’re ready to move forward,” said Frank McCall, Boeing’s Space Launch System deputy program manager. “This programme has the potential to be inspiring for generations.”
The Orion spacecraft will only experience two unoccupied flights before it will begin carrying humans on deep space missions. Orion’s first test flight, known as Exploration Flight Test (EFT)-1, is scheduled to launch in December 2014. During its two-hour trial, the un-crewed Orion craft will travel more than 3,000 miles into space, orbiting the Earth four times and travelling farther than any spacecraft built to carry humans has been in more than 40 years.
SLS trials will begin in 2017, with actual manned missions planned from 2020.
This was first published on The Global Panorama website. I am reproducing it after taking permission to do so.
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