Latest news with #RS25
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA Plows Forward, Testing A Moon Rocket That The White House Is Trying To Cancel
Going to the Moon was always viewed as a near-impossible feat, to the point that a large contingent of skeptics continues to believe that one of humanity's greatest feats simply didn't happen despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary. NASA's return to the lunar surface is being made even more difficult by the Trump administration. Despite the White House's desire to cancel the Space Launch System, the Artemis program's primary launch vehicle, NASA continues to test the rocket as recently as Thursday. NASA tested new SLS hardware twice over the last week for Moon missions that might never happen, Ars Technica reports. Last Friday, test-fired a hydrogen-fueled RS-25 rocket in Mississippi that would be used in the SLS core stage for Artemis V in 2030, the program's third lunar landing. Thursday's test in Utah featured a new solid rocket booster that would debut as a part of the SLS Block 2 rocket for Artemis IX in 2034. The additional 8,900 pounds of payload capacity provided by Block 2 would be used to supply the fledgling moonbase and support a permanent human presence on the Moon. Read more: These Movies And TV Shows Have The Best Car Casting The booster test at Northrop Grumman's site at Promontory, Utah went awry during the uncontrolled burn. Live-stream footage appears to show the exhaust burning away part of the rocket until it disintegrated just above the nozzle. The rocket's failure wasn't contained to just the test stand, as the flames spread to the surrounding hills. The most significant selling point of the SLS will likely be its downfall. The cost-effective appeal of recycling components from the Space Shuttle to reach the Moon was a dream that created more headaches than the dollars saved. This became even more problematic after Elon Musk bankrolled Trump's campaign for a second term while claiming that a SpaceX lunar program could be faster and cheaper with zero evidence to back up that posturing. While Musk believes the idea of returning to the Moon is dumb, the cancellation of SLS would be Artemis' demise, as contracts would likely be doled out for a commercial launch provider. This is occurring while NASA is facing a massive $6 billion budget cut, which will force the agency to reduce its staff by 32%. Employees are already being encouraged to take early buyouts or retire early, like their colleagues at other government agencies. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
With SLS rocket future uncertain, L3Harris still cranking out engines
While NASA's Artemis program may ultimately abandon the Space Launch System rocket, for now, Melbourne-based L3Harris is pushing forward with the manufacture of the powerful rocket's core stage engines. The SLS core stage gets 2 million pounds of thrust from four RS-25 engines that for the first four Artemis missions are engines from the Space Shuttle Program refurbished by Aerojet Rocketdyne, which L3Harris acquired in 2023. The first engine produced for the fifth mission, which was built from scratch after the depletion of the space shuttle supply, is now in NASA's hands. On Friday, the engine, dubbed No. 20001, underwent an 8 1/2-minute hot fire on a test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. That duration equals the time the engine would burn on launch if and when Artemis V gets off the ground. The engine was also cranked up to 111% power. 'This successful acceptance test shows that we've been able to replicate the RS-25's performance and reliability, while incorporating modern manufacturing techniques and upgraded components such as the main combustion chamber, nozzle and pogo accumulator assembly,' said Kristin Houston, president of the company's space propulsion and power systems division. So far NASA has flown the SLS once on the Artemis I mission in 2022. The four RS-25 engines powered the core stage that paired with two solid rocket boosters from Northrop Grumman, combined to create 8.8 million pounds of thrust on liftoff. It remains the most powerful rocket ever to make it to orbit. SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy nearly doubles that thrust, but has only performed suborbital test launches so far. Artemis II, the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, is set to launch atop SLS on its second flight no later than April 2026 on a mission to fly around, but not land on, the moon. A lunar landing mission is supposed to come with Artemis III, slated to fly by summer 2027, but it still needs a working version of Starship to act as the human landing system. Artemis IV and V are on the roadmap for 2028 and 2029, but the use of SLS was targeted for elimination in President Trump's proposed NASA budget for fiscal year 2026. The budget seeks to switch to a commercial provider to achieve the Artemis program goals of a sustained lunar presence and push on to send the first humans to Mars. Sen. Ted Cruz, though, countered the budget proposal with a call to restore funding at least through Artemis V, including saving the Gateway lunar space station that was also targeted for demise by the Trump budget proposal. So while the future of Artemis may shift, L3Harris will continue to build engines for which it has contracts. Manufacturing of the RS-25s happens in California. The newly manufactured engines cost 30% less than those produced and refurbished for the shuttle program, according to L3Harris, using updated processes such as 3D printing. A test version of the new engine design went through a 12-step certification series completed last year to pave the way for operational engine production. NASA has already ordered up to 24 of the new engines on top of the 16 refurbished shuttle-era engines that would support flights through the ninth Artemis. The order totals $3.5 billion, which is about $145 million per engine. Each engine will get tested at NASA's Stennis before it gets sent to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where the core stage is manufactured by Boeing. Starting with Artemis III, the core stage parts will be shipped to Kennedy Space Center for final assembly. 'The second Artemis V engine is slated to hot-fire later this year, with the other two engines set to be hot-fired next year,' said an L3Harris spokesperson. L3Harris also produces the single RL-10 engines used on both the upper stages of Artemis I-III, but also the proposed more powerful European Upper Stage, which would use four RL-10 engines for Artemis IV and beyond. Those engines are manufactured at the company's West Palm Beach facilities, which have been building and testing rocket engines for more than 60 years. 'Our propulsion technology is key to ensuring the United States leads in lunar exploration, creates a sustained presence on the moon and does not cede this strategic frontier to other nations,' Houston said.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA completes full-duration 'hot fire' test of new RS-25 engine
June 23 (UPI) -- NASA fired up a full-duration test of its new RS-25 engine that will power the Space Launch System rocket on Artemis missions to the moon, the space agency announced Monday. NASA tested RS-25 engine No. 20001 on Friday at the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center at Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. The full-duration "hot fire" test was the first since NASA completed certification testing for new production RS-25 engines last year. The engine, built by contractor L3Harris Technologies -- formerly Aerojet Rocketdyne -- was fired up for nearly eight-and-a-half minutes. That is the same amount of time it would take four RS-25 engines to launch an SLS rocket, sending astronauts aboard the Orion into orbit. The engine was also fired up to the 111% power level to test its limits. The test was conducted by a team from NASA, L3Harris and Syncom Space Services, which is the contractor for site facilities. All RS-25 engines are being tested and proven flightworthy at NASA Stennis after the space agency completed its RS-25 certification test series in April 2024. "The newly produced engines on future SLS rockets will maintain the high reliability and safe flight operational legacy the RS-25 is known for while enabling more affordable high-performance engines for the next era of deep space exploration," Johnny Heflin, SLS liquid engines manager, said last year. The RS-25 engine dates back to the 1960s, with a previous iteration of Rocketdyne from the 1970s. NASA's first space shuttle flight used RS-25 engines to launch in April 1981. It will take four RS-25 engines, producing a combined 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, to launch the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. NASA is targeting the first crewed Artemis mission, Artemis II, for April 2026. It will be the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. During Artemis II, four astronauts will make a trip around the moon. Artemis III will include a lunar landing, which is currently scheduled for 2027.
