The super rocket that will bring American astronauts back to the Moon in 2024 has just appeared with a huge size, up to 110 meters high and weighing nearly 4 tons.
The Space Launch System (SLS-yellow) core module is placed between the two boosters. Photo: NASA According to Insider, the US space agency (NASA) has just released new images of a super rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) that has just been assembled. It is the agency’s most powerful launch vehicle since the 1960s. The SLS super rocket was installed on June 11 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. This is the first SLS rocket, part of a new type of rocket designed to serve the mission of sending American astronauts back to the Moon, and beyond to Mars. The core module of the SLS rocket. NASA has aimed to test-launch the SLS super rocket in November 2021, the first step in a series of missions toward the goal of returning to the Moon for the first time since 1972. In the photo released by NASA, the core module of the rocket, up to 65 meters long, is placed between two smaller boosters. The first version of the SLS super rocket is called Block 1. Once assembled, the rocket will weigh nearly 4 tons, 110 meters high, which is taller than the Statue of Liberty (93 meters). Powerful launcher capable of carrying over 27.2 tons into orbit. That capacity means it’s powerful enough to carry the Orion spacecraft, which is expected to send astronauts into space on future missions. See the core module of the super rocket SLS being moved from New Orleans to Mississippi: Before being fully assembled, the top of the SLS rocket core module needs to be fitted with a converter and the space capsule is lowered and placed on the rocket. This is the first time the core and two boosters have been coupled together since the SLS project was announced in 2011. Photo: NASA The SLS will be launched for the first time in November this year, sending Orion into orbit around the Moon on an unmanned mission. Assembling the core module onto the booster marks the end of the second phase of rocket assembly. NASA aims to launch the SLS super rocket on its maiden flight as early as October 2021. This is the first of three missions that NASA has planned to return humans to the Moon. If the mission is successful, the world will see the first black man and the first woman set foot on the Moon in 2024. The first launch of the SLS rocket this year will be unmanned as it aims to test the rocket’s ability to deliver the lunar space capsule and return to Earth. NASA astronaut Christina Koch (left) poses for a photo with Expedition Flight 61 Engineer, Jessica Meir on October 12, 2019. Photo: NASA Two rockets of the Space Launch System – NASA, pictured after completion of assembly. Photo: NASA The boosters are located on either side of the core module of the SLS rocket, which can generate 3.6 million pounds of thrust in just two minutes to lift the rocket into space. The core module itself also has a powerful engine, generating about 2 million pounds of thrust. After the first failed test, the core modules’ engines were successfully launched in about 8 minutes on May 18, paving the way for rocket assembly. The engines will power the Orion spacecraft to travel at 24,500 miles (39,200km) per hour, the speed needed to get it to the Moon. Image of SLS system viewed from above. NASA also plans to use the SLS launcher to go to Mars. The modern SLS rocket is the equivalent of the Saturn V launcher, used in the Apollo missions. But because the Moon is 1,000 times farther from Earth, we need a more powerful launchpad. NASA has big ambitions for the SLS rocket. It is designed to be flexible and adaptable, and could be used for missions to Mars, Saturn or Jupiter. The next version of the rocket, Block 2, will be designed to carry a payload of more than 101,400 pounds (46,000kg). According to NASA, it will be a “pack horse” to help transport cargo to the Moon, Mars and other distant space destinations.
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