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NASA’s Space Launch System Passes Critical Design Review Milestone

You know the feeling of pride and achievement when you’ve worked really hard on a term paper, and finally turn it in? That’s how the critical design review team for NASA’s Space Launch System is feeling this week as the program completed its review. The in-depth review – the first in almost 40 years for […]

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First Full-Scale SLS Booster Installed On Stand For March Static Test

NASA and ATK have completed installing the first Space Launch System booster qualification motor, QM-1, in a specialized test stand in Utah. The largest solid rocket motor ever built for flight, QM-1 is now being prepared for its static-fire test, which is scheduled for March 11. “Testing before flight is critical to ensure reliability and […]

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RS-25 Main Engine Testing Resumes At Stennis After Five-Year Hiatus

The new year is off to a hot start for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). The engine that will drive America’s next great rocket to deep space blazed through its first successful test Jan. 9 at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The RS-25, formerly the space shuttle main engine, fired […]

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NASA’s Orion Spacecraft Completes “Picture Perfect” First Test Flight

Reaching a pinnacle in its nine-year development program, NASA’s next-generation Orion deep-space exploration craft soared through a picture-perfect test flight today to mark a major milestone in NASA’s plans to return to human space exploration with sights firmly fixed on Mars. Exploration Flight Test-1 was Orion’s first mission and the first “real-life” test for many […]

ATK's launch abort motor igniter for the Orion crew capsule's Launch Abort System is one step closer toward qualifying for production. (PRNewsFoto/ATK)
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ATK Test Fires Igniter For Orion Launch Abort System Motor

NASA and ATK successfully completed a static test of the launch abort motor igniter for the Orion crew capsule’s Launch Abort System (LAS). Conducted at ATK’s facility in Promontory, Utah, this test is the next step toward qualifying the igniter for production. ATK’s launch abort motor igniter for the Orion crew capsule’s Launch Abort System […]

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Acoustic Tests Help NASA Model SLS Launch Dynamics

Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are wrapping up acoustic testing on a 5-percent scale model of NASA’s Space Launch System. The Aug.28 test, the 34th in the series, will help NASA engineers understand how loud the SLS vehicle will be during liftoff. Data from the test series will be used […]

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SLS Passes Milestone And Receives NASA Approval For Development

NASA officials Wednesday announced they have completed a rigorous review of the Space Launch System (SLS) — the heavy-lift, exploration class rocket under development to take humans beyond Earth orbit and to Mars — and approved the program’s progression from formulation to development, something no other exploration class vehicle has achieved since the agency built […]

Lockheed Martin technicians and engineers attach the heat shield to the Orion crew module inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper
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Orion Receives Heat Shield For Late 2014 EFT-1 Test Flight

Lockheed Martin technicians and engineers attach the heat shield to the Orion crew module inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers have installed the largest heat shield ever constructed on the crew module of the agency’s Orion spacecraft. […]