How Boeing is building the world's most powerful deep-space rocket - CNET

NASA is sending astronauts back to the moon and on to Mars atop the biggest rocket in history.

Boeing reveals why its Space Launch System will shape our deep space future.

When NASA sends the first woman and the next man to the moon, those astronauts won't just be the first humans to land on the lunar surface since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, they'll also be riding atop the biggest and most powerful rocket in NASA's history: the Space Launch System, built by Boeing.

According to Matt Duggan, mission management and operation manager for Boeing, the Space Launch System is a key piece of technology that will enable humans to travel farther into space and for longer periods. .

It can carry these huge, huge payloads … and include all the supplies that humans need to live and work in deep space.".

Unlike previous rockets developed for NASA missions, the SLS will be able to carry entire payloads, preassembled, to deep space so that supplies are ready to go on Mars as humans arrive. .

The core stage for NASA's Space Launch System rocket, built by Boeing, on location at the Stennis Space Center near Bay St.

This will be the first time the SLS will launch complete with the (uncrewed) Orion space capsule on top, taking off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a three-week mission around the moon