It’s a relaxing time for NASA’s next mega-rocket: the Space Launch System.
Why does it matter: The rocket – with about 10 years in development and billions of dollars over budget – is expected to be launched for the first time this year. His success is key to NASA’s plans to bring people and payloads to deep space destinations like the Moon.
- “This is the year SLS needs to show that it can work,” Casey Dreier of the Planetary Society told me. “It simply came to our notice then. It’s been 10 years now. ”
News management: NASA is expected to host what will be one of the biggest SLS tests on January 17th.
- This test he will see the four basic stage engines of the huge rocket firing in unison without taking flight.
- The rocket will ignite for up to eight minutes to see how the rappelling might behave during a real launch.
What’s next: SLS is expected to launch into space for the first time in November 2021, sending an unmanned Orion capsule around the Moon and back to Earth.
But but, but … if this happens in time it remains to be seen.
- There is not much room in the program for possible delays and remedies that may arise as a result of the triggering of the test or other problems, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office published last month.
- If the first flight of SLS and Orion is Delayed could have a cascading effect on future NASA monthly missions, including a planned monthly manned landing for 2024, William Russell, one of the authors of the GAO report, told me.
Context: Congress directed NASA to build the SLS in 2010.
- Today there are commercial space companies – including Blue Origin and SpaceX – working to develop rockets that could launch astronauts and payloads to the moon and not just for a price lower than the cost of an SLS.
- Some have suggested that NASA should buy a trip to the moon aboard a commercial rocket instead of the SLS, at least initially.
The other side: Proponents of the SLS program say that even with these heavy commercial missiles expected to come online, NASA still needs its own launcher to meet its unique needs as an exploration agency.
- The entire system – including SLS and Orion – is built to work together, so switching to another type of rocket is not practical at this stage of development, Dreier said.
- The SLS program also brought much-needed jobs to NASA and contractors – Boeing, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman – responsible for building and testing the rocket.
Bottom line: NASA’s future deep space exploration plans depend on the success of SLS – and soon.