NASA plans to launch an SLS rocket next February to the Orion crew

On October 23, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to launch a giant rocket space launch system (SLS) in February next year to carry out the Artemis 1 mission, which is the first time NASA has launched a lunar rocket since the Apollo moon landing program NASA officials said on Friday that the SLS rocket will be the first lunar rocket since the Apollo program. It was originally planned to launch in November this year, but now it is several months later than the original plan. If the final test goes well, it may now be launched on February 12 illustration: artistic imagination of SLS rocket and Orion crew cabin the SLS rocket being developed by NASA aims to send astronauts to the moon, Mars and other deep space destinations, which is also an integral part of Artemis program. NASA plans to send astronauts to the moon again in 2024 through the Artemis program and establish a sustainable lunar base the whole giant rocket system consists of two main parts: SLS rocket and Orion crew cabin. On October 20, engineers at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida stacked the crew compartment on a 98 meter high giant rocket in the launch vehicle assembly building (VAB). This marks that NASA has completed an important phased goal, and the SLS rocket has entered the countdown stage of launch figure: on September 19, NASA engineers successfully completed the separation test of SLS rocket umbilical arm in the assembly building "completing stacking is a very important phased goal," Mike sarafin, project manager of NASA Artemis 1, said at the project progress press conference held on Friday. "This shows that we have entered the final stage of the mission." Tom whitmeyer, assistant to NASA's deputy director in charge of developing the space exploration system, said that the stacked crew compartment and SLS rocket will be moved to the 38b launch pad for testing in late December, followed by pre launch state training (WDR) in early January next year he said: "after the pre launch training, we will go back to the assembly building for more in-depth inspection, and then back to the launch pad." whitmeyer added: "Artemis 1 mission is the first step to achieve the first female and colored lunar landing... We are excited about the progress made so far in this mission." launch path most of the hardware of the SLS rocket is assembled and tested at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi this giant rocket system is powered by the core stage equipped with four rs-25 engines and two giant solid rocket boosters, which can produce nearly 4000 tons of thrust in total NASA conducted thermal tests on the core stage of the rocket this year, and the four main engines were started twice this year to ensure the normal operation of rocket components. The first test was conducted on January 16 this year. The rocket engine was shut down one minute after ignition figure: on October 20, NASA engineers stacked the Orion crew compartment on the top of a giant rocket 98 meters high the reason why the heat test ended ahead of schedule was that the hydraulic system of a rocket engine was abnormal. Investigators determined that a parameter of the system exceeded the preset upper limit and triggered the engine shutdown mechanism. NASA chose to conduct the thermal test again in March and then ship it to the launch site after arriving in Florida, the SLS rocket was transported to the high bay 3 facility in the launch vehicle assembly building, where the Apollo Saturn 5 rocket was assembled. NASA engineers continue to assemble different components of the space launch system at the facility. Earlier this week, the Orion crew module completed stacking with the rocket go to the launch pad after testing on the launch pad later this year, the SLS rocket will conduct joint pre launch training in early January next year. This exercise is essentially a fuel injection test and the final test of the rocket and ground system. NASA's launch team will fill the core and upper stages with cryogenic fuel the project team will complete all procedures except ignition and launch on the day of launch. Then the SLS rocket will be moved back to the assembly building and wait for the appropriate launch time. Salaffin said that the first launch time was the 15 day window period beginning on February 12 if the launch target remains unchanged, the SLS rocket will arrive at the launch pad six days before the launch on February 12. There is a 21 minute launch window on February 12, which is expected to open at 5:56 p.m. Eastern time. The specific launch window changes every day. Salafin also said that according to the analysis, the launch window will be adjusted for one to two minutes on the day of launch launch window according to sarafin, each launch window period may range from tens of minutes to two hours, and the first launch cycle lasts from February 12 to 27. He added that there will be launch opportunities in March and April next year, and each launch window will last about two weeks he said: "we will work for about two weeks, and then wait for two weeks." when asked why the launch window period is so changeable, sarafin said that there are two main factors, one is the relative position of the earth and the moon, and the other is that the Orion crew module needs to splash into the ocean during the day "the launch window is really related to the three body problem we are dealing with," he said "The earth revolves around the earth's axis. The moon revolves around the earth. Then we have to fly outward and land on the earth in sunshine." sarafin also said that the length of the entire Artemis 1 mission also depends on the specific time of SLS rocket launch. If the rocket can take off in the first half of the first launch window period (February 12-27), the whole mission will run for about six weeks, and after that, it will run for four weeks mission objective the objective of Artemis 1 is to test the entire system before Artemis plans to conduct its first manned space flight. The Artemis 2 mission with astronauts is scheduled to launch sometime in 2023 and fly around the moon, but it will not land on the moon salafin said that the Artemis 1 mission will also test the return of the Orion crew module from the moon. This mission provides engineers with the operation data of the crew cabin during space flight. The Orion crew module will send data back to earth through the deep space network and will also be installed on the aircraftSeveral cameras on the Tianqi solar array send some self photos "the Orion crew module will take self photos and let us see the moon in the background," sarafin said. "We will also see the earth about 380000 kilometers away." in addition to sending the Orion crew module into space, the SLS rocket will also carry 10 small satellites for various research missions, including satellites to study the impact of deep space radiation on yeast DNA, and satellites to study how the Spacecraft flies over near Earth Asteroids with the help of huge solar sails. (Chen Chen)

2023-03-22 10:04:45

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