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NASA's new moon rocket, the Space Launch System, takes shape in giant hangar - Space.com

NASA's new moon rocket, the Space Launch System, takes shape in giant hangar - Space.com

NASA's new moon rocket, the Space Launch System, takes shape in giant hangar - Space.com
Jun 21, 2021 1 min, 16 secs

The space agency's next megarocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) is coming together ahead of its first planned launch later this year. .

The behemoth's core stage arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, via barge on April 27, before rolling into the massive Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), its home until launch.

After its arrival, the core stage spent the next few weeks in the transfer aisle of the VAB before it was hoisted on top of the mobile launch platform to join the two solid rocket boosters that are already stacked in High Bay 3. .

The core stage is the backbone of the rocket, which stands 212 feet (65 meters) tall.

From there, it was stacked on top of its mobile launch platform, and in between two 177-foot-tall (54 m) solid rocket boosters. .

Built by Northrop Grumman, the boosters are longer versions of the solid rocket motors that once powered the agency's fleet of space shuttles.

 The successful stacking of the core stage is just the start of a process to fully assemble the rocket ahead of launch.

Four RS-25 engines — the same engine that powered the space shuttle — will power SLS, along with an added boost from the twin solid rocket boosters, generating more than 8 million pounds of thrust.

NASA is hoping to launch the SLS and Orion crew capsule on an unpiloted test flight around the moon as soon as late November. 

In Photos: NASA's Kennedy Space Center renovates Launch Pad 39B for Orion

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