Image of the Day: 8/9/14

(Photo Credit: NASA/Rad Sinyak)

NASA has finished the construction of the Orion crew module, pictured here sitting atop its service module at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Facility at Kennedy Space Centre.

NASA confirms Space Launch System will be ready for 2018 test flight

(Space Launch System will become the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions – Photo Credit: NASA/MSFC)

After a thorough review, NASA managers have formally approved the development of the Space Launch System, something no other exploration class vehicle has achieved since the agency built the space shuttle, and have confirmed that the rocket will be ready for its first test flight no later than November 2018. 

NASA creates and tests 3D printed rocket injectors

(The injectors during testing – Photo Credit: NASA/MSFC/David Olive)

NASA have completed hot-fire testing the most complex rocket engine parts ever designed by the agency – two 3D printed rocket injectors.

NASA prepares for Space Launch System engine tests

(RS-25 rocket engine No. 0525 positioned in preparation for testing – Photo Credit: NASA)

Engineers at NASA have taken a crucial step in the construction of agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) by installing one of the rocket’s RS-25 engines on the A-1 Test Stand at the Stennis Space Center in preparation for extensive assessments.

NASA and Boeing finalize $2.8 billion SLS contract

(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.