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Its final role in Shuttle support operations came via the shipping of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) ground support equipment to Stennis from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n
Pegasus was then mothballed at NASA\u2019s Stennis Space Center in 2011.<\/p>\n
Its transition to its next role began last summer, making a short trip to Amelia, Louisiana \u2013 where contractors at Conrad Shipyard LLC were tasked with modifications on the barge, part of the $8.5m contract they earned from NASA to prepare Pegasus for its role with SLS.<\/p>\n
![\"2014-07-07](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2014-07-07-19_03_18-pegasus-barge-nasa-Google-Search-350x245.jpg\")
At 260 feet long, 50 feet wide and 15 feet high Pegasus simply isn\u2019t large enough for the role of transporting the large core stages of the SLS.<\/p>\n\u201cModifications were needed to the barge due to the sheer size of the SLS \u2013 which is more than 50 feet taller than the shuttle, and will launch more than three times as much weight into space,\u201d noted Alan Murphy, team lead for the Pegasus project at MSFC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe core stage is 59 feet longer and more than 500,000 pounds heavier, including the ground support equipment, than the space shuttle external tank.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The barges have played a role in transporting hardware since the Saturn era.<\/p>\n
![\"2014-07-07](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2014-07-07-16_40_56-Category_NASA-barges-Wikimedia-Commons-350x234.jpg\")
At one point NASA had a fleet of barges, such as the Orion, Poseidon, Pearl River and Palaemon.<\/p>\nThese barges ferried Saturn IB and Saturn V stages between Marshall Space Center (MSFC); Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF); Mississippi Test Facility (MTF, renamed to Stennis Space Center); and Kennedy Space Center (KSC).<\/p>\n
Replacing NASA\u2019s aging Poseidon and Orion barges, Pegasus became the final barge used for transporting the shuttle ETs in 2002. It will be the sole barge used for SLS core transportation, deep into the 2020s.<\/p>\n
Modification work will ensure Pegasus will meet the American Bureau of Shipping standards, including load line certification, or verification of the barge\u2019s legal loading limit to safely maintain buoyancy during water travel.<\/p>\n
![\"2015-02-04](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/2015-02-04-15_21_14-maf-20140924_pegasus_remod_02.jpg-7360%C3%974912-350x244.jpg\")
Stripped down to its bare bones, the Conrad crews have been tasked with installing a new, 165-foot center section for the barge, extending the total length of the barge from 260 feet to 310 feet. A 115-foot center section of the existing barge was removed and the new piece installed.<\/p>\nThe first planned set of voyages for the Pegasus will be from MAF \u2013 after picking up core stage structural test articles (STAs) \u2013 before shipping them to MSFC for testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to seeing the barge back in the water for a new era of exploration,\u201d added Mr. Murphy.<\/p>\n
![\"Z15\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Z15.jpg\")
For the shipping of cores \u2013 Pegasus will be aided by the Self Propelled Module Transporter (SPMT) \u2013 that will allow for SLS Structural Test Articles (STAs) and the Integrated Core Stage (ICS) to depart MAF to NASA locations.<\/p>\nThe SPMT will be able to travel at up to three miles per hour and be capable \u2013 when SPMT modules are grouped together \u2013 of carrying up to 600,000lbs.<\/p>\n
A total of four transporters will be required for the SLS Program.<\/p>\n
Production of the hardware for the first STA elements is continuing at MAF, although the schedule has been delayed a few weeks due to an incident involving a bearing coming loose from the giant Vertical Assembly Center (VAC). No one was injured in the incident.<\/p>\n
![\"2015-01-02](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2015-01-02-19_44_33-SLS-Structural-Test-Article-Stands-at-MSFC-Construction-Photos-and-Updates-350x256.jpg\")
Pegasus will ship the hardware for testing on two test stands, the tallest \u2013 Test Stand 4693 \u2013 will be 215 feet tall and will host testing on the LH2 tank.<\/p>\nThe shorter 4697 stand \u2013 86 feet tall \u2013 will be used to test the LOX tank and forward skirt.<\/p>\n
Both of these test stands are currently under construction at the Marshall Space Flight Center.<\/p>\n
The barge also will deliver the flight core stage from Michoud to Stennis, where it will be tested in late 2016 and early 2017 on the B-2 test stand.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Z34.jpg\")
The core stage will be installed on the stand \u2013 currently undergoing its own modifications \u2013 for propellant fill and drain testing and a hot fire test.<\/p>\nThe Green Run testing on the B-2 test stand will see the four RS-25 engines on the first Core Stage fired for a full mission duration of approximately 500 seconds.<\/p>\n
Stennis recently celebrated the return of RS-25 testing via the hot fire of unit E0525.<\/p>\n
For the debut flight \u2013 known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) \u2013 NASA\u2019s Liquid Engine Office has selected the first four engines that will loft the monster rocket uphill.<\/p>\n
![\"Z3\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Z3.jpg\")
The four engines \u2013 ME-2045, ME-2056, ME-2058, and ME-2060 \u2013 are all established Shuttle veterans with numerous successful missions under their belts.<\/p>\nA total of 15 RS-25Ds left the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for their new role, arriving at the Stennis Space Center in 2012.<\/p>\n
Once testing of the EM-1 core is complete at Stennis, the Pegasus will transport the stage to Kennedy Space Center for preparation and integration into the SLS flight vehicle in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).<\/p>\n
EM-1 is currently set to launch in July, 2018.<\/p>\n
(Images: Via L2 content from L2\u2019s SLS specific L2 section, which includes, presentations, videos, graphics and internal \u2013 interactive with actual SLS engineers \u2013 updates on the SLS and HLV, available on no other site. Other images via NASA)<\/p>\n
To join L2, click here: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The famous Pegasus Barge is nearing the end of its jumboisation phase, as work continues to prepare it for a role in transporting the massive Space Launch System (SLS) stages from their birth place the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF). The upgraded Pegasus is set to transport the first major SLS hardware from New Orleans to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1828,624],"class_list":["post-39405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-pegasus","tag-sls"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}