First public release of ‘SLS’, the successor to the rocket’s successor to the lunar exploration protagonist ‘Saturn V’ 50 years ago: Dong-A Science

NASA’s SLS carrying the manned spacecraft ‘Orion’ was unveiled for the first time. It is moving out of the assembly building to the launch pad for a final test before launch. Provided by NASA.

In the US-led international manned lunar exploration ‘Artemis’ program, the largest space rocket ‘SLS (Spcae Launch System)’, which will bring mankind back to the moon, will be tested on the 17th (local time) in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. He showed his magnificence to the Kennedy Space Center. This is the first time that the SLS carrying the manned spacecraft ‘Orion’ has shown a magnificent appearance on the launch pad.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the SLS, which is being developed for manned lunar exploration and Mars exploration, will be loaded onto a super-large transport device at 5:45 pm on the 17th (6:45 am Korean time on the 18th) and moved from the assembly building to the launch pad. .

The SLS, which travels regarding 4 miles (regarding 6.4 km) in regarding 11 hours, is set up on the launch pad and will conduct a final test called ‘Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR)’ before launch for regarding two days from the 3rd of next month. WDR is a test that runs the procedure just before ignition of the engine. A simulation is performed in which liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants are placed in a fuel tank and a firing countdown is performed a few seconds before the engine is ignited.

After the WDR, the launch schedule for the ‘Artemis-I’ mission, a test flight that goes to orbit without a person on board, will be decided. NASA is preparing for the Artemis mission with a goal of a manned moon landing in 2025.

With a total length of 98.1m, equivalent to the height of the 32-story building, the SLS was developed as the largest space rocket ever since the ‘Apollo’ mission, a manned moon landing project in the United States. The length is shorter than the 111m long space rocket ‘Saturn-V’ that sent Apollo to the moon, but it is known that the maximum thrust is 15% higher.