NEW ORLEANS, La. - NASA has completed assembly of the upper part of the core stage for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will send the Artemis II crew on its lunar mission. Boeing, the lead core stage contractor, completed joining the forward part of the rocket, and then lifted it out of the assembly structure at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility. The last piece to be added will be the engine section, which is currently in a separate assembly area being outfitted with propulsion systems that connect to the engines. The engine section will house the four RS-25 engines that power the rocket. (Source: Space Daily, 12/17/21)
UPDATE 12/21/21): A malfunctioning computer in one of the four main engines of the Space Launch System will delay that vehicle’s first launch to no earlier than March. NASA announced that SLS engineers decided they needed to replace the controller for engine four in the core stage of the SLS. One of two redundant channels in the controller failed to power up consistently during tests of the integrated vehicle at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. That controller operated as expected during the core stage’s Green Run test campaign at the Stennis Space Center, Miss., that concluded with a full-duration static-fire test in March. NASA did not give a schedule for the work but ruled out a launch in the initial window of Feb. 12 to 27 that the agency announced in October. (Source: SpaceNews, 12/20/21)
+ STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA conducted a full-duration test Dec. 15 to begin a new series of testing for state-of-the-art RS-25 engines to help power the agency's Space Launch System (SLS), America's new deep-space rocket. The first hot fire of the new series was conducted for 500 seconds on the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly A-1 Test Stand). The test schedule is divided into three phases: An initial five tests scheduled into next spring will use development engine No. 0525 to gather data on a variety of new engine components manufactured with state-of-the-art fabrication techniques, like hot isostatic pressure bonding and selective laser melting. A second phase of 12 tests will begin next summer with a certification engine produced with all new parts in Aerojet Rocketdyne’s factory in DeSoto, Calif. It is identical to new engines being manufactured for flights after Artemis IV. A third phase of 12 tests will be conducted with the development engine, which will have many of the same parts as the certification engine and also will be used to certify the new engines for flight. This latest round of testing is part of a program to develop new RS-25 engines and components for future Artemis deep space missions. During each phase, engineers are introducing newly fabricated components on developmental engines. The components tested in this series include newly fabricated turbopumps, ducting, harnesses, and valves. Also included will be a previously tested pogo accumulator. RS-25 tests at Stennis are conducted by a team of NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Syncom Space Services operators. Syncom Space Services is the prime contractor for Stennis facilities and operations. (Source: NASA, 12/15/21) Previous
+ Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum, Md., has been awarded a $41,178,619 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Manta Ray Phase 2 program. This contract provides developing, fabricating, and testing a full-scale demonstration system of a long endurance unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). Work will be performed in Linthicum (75%); Woods Hole, Mass. (15%); Grandview, Mo. (4%); Baltimore, Md. (3%); North Kingstown, R.I. (2%); and Gulfport, Miss. (1%), with an expected completion date of December 2023. Fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022 research, development, test, and engineering funds in the amount of $760,166 and $10,000,000, respectively, are being obligated at time of award. This contract was a competitive acquisition under broad agency announcement HR001119S0040 Phase 2. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/17/21)
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