NASA’s SLS Moon Rocket: Early Production Success on Advanced Upper Stage

Technicians at NASAEstablished in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility have completed a crucial part of a weld confidence article for the advanced upper stage of the SLSNASA's Space Launch System (SLS) will be the most powerful rocket they've ever built. As part of NASA's deep space exploration plans, it will launch astronauts on missions to an asteroid and eventually to Mars. As the SLS evolves, the launch vehicle will to be upgraded with more powerful versions. Eventually, the SLS will have the lift capability of 130 metric tons, opening new possibilities for missions to places like Saturn and Jupiter.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>SLS rocket.

Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have completed a major portion of a weld confidence article for the advanced upper stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The hardware was rotated to a horizontal position and moved to another part of the facility on October 24.

The weld confidence article forms part of the liquid oxygen tank for the SLS rocket’s exploration upper stage (see infographic below) and is the fifth of seven weld confidence articles engineers are manufacturing for the evolved SLS Block 1B configuration of the SLS rocket. Beginning with Artemis IV, SLS will evolve to its more powerful Block 1B configuration with the advanced upper stage that gives the rocket the capability to launch 40% more to the Moon along with Artemis astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket delivers propulsion in stages to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft and heavy cargo to the Moon for the Artemis lunar missions. At liftoff, the core stage and twin solid rocket boosters fire to propel the rocket off the launch pad send it into orbit. Once in orbit, the upper stage provides the in-space propulsion to set the spacecraft on a precise trajectory. While the rocket’s core stage design will remain the same for each of the Artemis missions, the rocket’s upper stage is selected to meet various mission requirements and goals. For the first three Artemis missions, including the mission that will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon, SLS will utilize an interim cryogenic propulsion stage with one RL10 engine to send Orion to the Moon. Later missions with the evolved SLS Block 1B rocket configuration will use an exploration upper stage with larger fuel tanks and four RL10 engines to send a crewed Orion and large cargos to the Moon. Credit: NASA/Kevin O’Brien

Teams use weld confidence articles to verify welding procedures, interfaces between the tooling and hardware, and structural integrity of the welds. The dome of the liquid oxygen tank weld confidence article was first welded to its structural ring at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, using friction stir welding tooling. The hardware was transported to Michoud, where Michoud crews in the Liquid Oxygen Tank Assembly Center (LTAC) finished welding the hardware. Marshall and Michoud engineers simultaneously conducted testing and analysis on the hardware to validate welding parameters.

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This video shows how technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans completed a major portion of a weld confidence article for the advanced upper stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. Credit: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

In tandem, NASA and Boeing, the SLS lead contractor for the core stage and exploration upper stage, are producing structural test articles and flight hardware structures for the upper stage at Marshall and Michoud.

NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.