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The SLS Qualification Test Article is being welded together, piece by piece

July 21st, 2016

With a major qualification test article for NASA’s new rocket having just finished being welded together, we’re a step closer to the launch of Space Launch System in 2018.

The component just completed is SLS’s liquid hydrogen tank. Coming in at more than 130 feet tall, this test article and others for different parts of the rocket will undergo qualification testing – a key part of the flight certification process.

Space Launch System LH2 Qualification tank moves from the Vertical Assembly Center after welds have been completed to a holding cell untill it will be laid on its side.

Space Launch System LH2 Qualification tank moves from the Vertical Assembly Center after welds have been completed to a holding cell until it will be laid on its side. Image credit: NASA/Michoud/Eric Bordelon

The liquid hydrogen tank was manufactured using the same processing procedures of the actual flight hardware. Sensors will be installed in the newly welded tank to record data. This tank is part of the rocket’s core stage.

This article and others of the rocket’s core stage will be tested at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. The test stand for structural loads testing is also being constructed.

The launch of SLS in 2018 is called Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). During the mission, NASA’s new Orion crew capsule will fly past the moon and return to Earth. A secondary payload of small satellites known as CubeSats will also launch on this mission.

With more and more qualification test articles being manufactured for the new rocket that will take humans deeper into space than ever before, NASA continues to make strides toward future missions on the Journey to Mars.

Learn more about NASA’s new rocket at NASA.gov.

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