America's 2,875-ton 'machine' on the launch pad: Beating Saturn V, becoming the most powerful rocket in the world

SLS is the most powerful missile in the world that the US possesses. SLS is about to carry out NASA's "golden era missions".

The world's most powerful super rocket SLS is on the pedestal

NASA's massive new Moon rocket - named the Space Launch System (SLS) - is finally on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39B after a journey lasting more than 10 hours. York Times (USA) information.

NASA said that at 4:15 a.m. on Friday, February 18, 2022 local time, the massive Crawler-Transporter 2 crawler vehicle completed its mission to carry the SLS rocket vertically (topped by the spacecraft). Orion space station) over a distance of more than 6 km from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) of Kennedy Space Center to the launch pad.

"Moving out of the VAB, then being fixed onto the launch pad - that's truly an iconic moment for the SLS heavy-launch rocket," said Tom Whitmeyer, VP of exploratory systems development at Tom Whitmeyer. NASA headquarters, said in a press conference.

The launch of the SLS super rocket is a very important moment for NASA, where thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians have spent more than a decade developing this rocket. , with the goal of using SLS to send goods and people into deep space.

Going through tough times, both the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft were many years behind schedule and over budget by billions of dollars, and NASA finally saw the image of its rocket and spacecraft standing tall. mid-air.

NASA's giant rocket SLS has been fixed on the launch pad.

"Today witnessed the moment when the new generation of Artemis - based on the great successes of the Apollo generation - opened a new chapter of the journey to explore the Moon in particular and space in general. The new generation of Artemis will bring the Americans re-landed the Moon. This groundbreaking achievement will pave the way for humanity's future giant leap missions to Mars. Without a doubt, we are in the golden age of discovery. space exploration. It all started with the Artemis I mission" - Bill Nelson - NASA Director said before SLS was brought to the launch pad on March 17, 2022.

According to the director of NASA, SLS is the most powerful rocket that NASA has ever built, and currently SLS is the most powerful rocket in the world, possessing a strong thrust of 8.8 million pounds (4,400 US tons). Mega Moon (another name for SLS) is the only space rocket (up to now) capable of sending humans to deep space.

Before that, the most powerful rocket in the world belonged to Saturn V, also built by NASA itself. The SLS will generate 15% more thrust than the Saturn V, and the SLS is capable of lifting about 25 tons of cargo to the Moon.

The New York Times writes: The majestic scenery on Thursday and Friday (March 17-18, 2022) is reminiscent of NASA's 20th-century Apollo era half a century ago when the Saturn V rocket - used to carry out a series of missions that put a man on the Moon for the first time in human history - making similar journeys to the launch pad.

The 3,300-ton Crawler-Transporter 2 crawler vehicle used on March 17-18 is the same one that transported the Saturn V rocket in the late 1960s, of course Crawler-Transporter 2 has been improved by NASA and upgraded from the previous Crawler-Transporter to accommodate the SLS's 2,875-ton weight.

SLS's busy mission series in the future

NASA said that, as soon as SLS is fixed on the launch pad, the launch team (including engineers, technicians, NASA scientists) will spend the next 2 weeks testing various systems on the rocket and launchers.

If all goes well, and next April 3, 2022, NASA will test SLS with a pre-launch test: Where the launch team practices an 8-hour refueling process [with hundreds of thousands of gallons of cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen flows into the propellant tanks] for the rocket and then counts down and stops at 10 seconds before "Take off!". This means that the engine will not ignite and the rocket will not leave the ground.

After the pre-launch test, the SLS rocket will make a return trip to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center (in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA).

Launch team members watch an SLS rocket through the window of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center on Thursday, March 17, 2022.

The next time coming back to the launch pad will be the time when humanity will see the SLS super rocket take off with the Orion spacecraft mounted on the top within the framework of the Artemis I mission (expected around June 2022).

With the ability to generate the strongest thrust of 4,400 tons, SLS will bring the Orion spacecraft (then without a crew inside) out of the gravitational pull of the Earth and then make a journey of 386,242 kilometers to the Moon. . After orbiting the Moon for 1,609,344 km in 3 weeks, Orion will return to Earth and land in the Pacific Ocean.

According to the plan, after the Artemis I mission is successful, NASA will launch the next mission called Artemis II in 2024. Artemis II is a mission to fly astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth. for the first time since 1972.

The Artemis III mission will see an achievement that will go down in history: the US sends a man back to the Moon in 2025. Of course, if all goes well.

The Moon landing mission (Artemis III) requires the use of a separate lander, which is the Starship spacecraft built by SpaceX - This is the result of NASA's cooperation with SpaceX. The Starship Heavy Launch System (consisting of a Super Heavy booster and a Starship spacecraft) could also make its first test flight into space this 2022.

Memorable images of SLS on March 17-18

The door to NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) slowly opens, revealing the mobile launch pad carrying the Launch System into space.

A viewer covers his eyes as he watches the SLS come out from the VAB. Loren Grush / The Verge .'s photo

Guests and staff at NASA watch the SLS launch at the VAB.

After slowly moving out, the SLS rocket can finally be seen completely.

On top of the SLS is Orion, a new spacecraft designed to send humans into deep space.

SLS and VAB.

The SLS on the giant crawler began to move to the launch pad as the sun went down.

Orion spacecraft (white on top of SLS).

NASA logo on SLS rocket.

The NASA engineering team waved to the audience.

Crawler-Transporter 2 giant sprocket.