Tag: SLS
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EGS Integration Console engineers review Artemis I campaign
The NASA Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program is continuing to review the experiences from the Artemis I launch campaign as teams plan and prepare for Artemis II in a couple of years. History suggested there would be a long ground campaign to the Space Launch System’s (SLS) first liftoff, and a series of issues —…
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Historic scrubs and aborts that could happen to Starship
There are two words that most people never want to hear at a rocket launch, “abort” and “scrub.” As Starship’s orbital test flight gets closer, it may take multiple attempts to get Booster 7 and Ship 24 off the ground. If so, it wouldn’t be the first super-heavy launch vehicle to experience issues before and/or…
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NASA flight software for SLS navigates through clean first launch
The NASA-developed flight software for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle successfully flew the program’s first launch on the Artemis I mission on Nov. 16. The vehicle’s Integrated Avionics and Software conducted the final countdown and first eight minutes of launch, commanding the Core Stage, RS-25 engines, and Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) to orbital…
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Orion aces final in-flight test with nominal reentry and splashdown
The Orion spacecraft has reached the end of its flight on the Artemis I mission, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the Baja Coast near Guadalupe Island at 12:40 PM EST (17:40 UTC) on Sunday, Dec. 11. Final in-flight development test objectives were completed on Saturday, Dec. 10, and the fifth and penultimate…
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NASA talks Mobile Launcher refurbishment, modifications needed for Artemis II crew debut of SLS
Mobile Launcher 1 (ML1, or ML) is on its way back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center after successfully launching the SLS rocket and Orion/European Service Module duo on the Artemis I mission from Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) on Nov. 16, 2022. The ML now needs to be repaired from…
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RS-25 engine performance “perfect” on Artemis I debut launch
The four RS-25 engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully propelled the Core Stage, Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System, and Orion/Service Module stack into its initial Earth orbit during the system’s debut launch on Nov. 16, 2022. The engines fired for a full duration of nearly eight and a half minutes, inserting the SLS stack into a 30…
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Solid Rocket Boosters meet performance targets in first-look data review for Artemis I
The Artemis I launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from LC-39B at the Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 16, 2022, marked the first time in 11 years that the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) formerly used for the Space Shuttle program lit on a launch pad and hauled a spaceship out of Earth’s dense…
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Boeing talks Core Stage performance on Artemis I, looks ahead to future Core Stages and EUS debut
Following a successful first launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) and its critical Core Stage, Boeing is looking ahead to “the SLS fleet” as the aerospace company moves to complete the next three core stages for Artemis missions II through IV. Meanwhile, design and materials orders are in work from Boeing for SLS’s new…
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SLS makes successful debut flight, sending Artemis I to the Moon
NASA and the SLS teams have successfully launched the agency’s super heavy lift rocket which will facilitate humanity’s return to the Moon: this time to establish a permanent presence on our closest celestial neighbor. The launch of Artemis I occurred on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 1:47 AM EST (06:47 UTC). Should teams have required additional…
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Artemis I releases 10 cubesats, including a Moon lander, for technology and research
The Artemis I mission, the first flight of the Orion spacecraft and SLS, is now underway after a successful launch from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center at 1:47:44 AM EST (06:47:44 UTC) on Nov. 16. Artemis I not only launched the Orion spacecraft to the Moon but also 10 6U CubeSats, most massing…