The Space Launch System (SLS), a rocket currently under development by NASA, will be the largest rocket in the world. But constructing the 321-foot-tall rocket, weighing 5.5 million pounds, means large machinery and tools. On June 21, the space agency showed off those tools for the first time.
NASA is now installing a new set of machinery designed to weld pieces of the main frame of the SLS booster together at the Michaud Assembly facility in New Orleans. These include a circumferential dome weld tool, and a gore weld tool that welds aluminum alloy spheres, both of which are adaptations for the enhanced robotic weld tool, which is used to construct the domes needed. The vertical weld center assembles barrel-shaped pieces from panels, and the segmented ring tool manufactures support rings to attach the domes to barrels. The largest piece of equipment is the vertical assembly center (VAC), which is 170 feet tall - about the same as a 15-story skyscraper. It will join all the pieces together and perform final inspection.
The SLS will be the new heavy-lift rocket for NASA, designed to bring humans to an asteroid and then Mars. Unlike the Space Shuttle, this new system will be able to bring cargo - and people - to deep space. With the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle riding on top the booster, the new launch system will be able to carry up to four astronauts at a time to the Moon and beyond.
"It's an exciting time to be a part of NASA's team. We're already welding on the new tooling and are gathering information we'll need to start production welding. That old saying, 'measure twice, cut once,' applies in spades when you're building a 5.5 million-pound rocket. We do a lot of testing, validating and what we call 'qualifying' welds that ensure we have all the information we need to build with 100 percent quality assurance." Rick Navarro, Boeing operations manager at Michoud, said.
During its height in the 1980's, the Michoud facility housed around 1,000 workers assembling the fuel tanks for the Space Shuttle. The plant currently has about 250 workers, with plans to double that number as the SLS project enters full production.
The Space Launch System will be ten percent more powerful than the Saturn Five rocket that launched met to the Moon, being able to lift 154,000 pounds of payload to space. The rocket is designed with several proven pieces from the Shuttle and other programs, which help to decrease cost of development and increase reliability. The first launch of the SLS is currently scheduled for 2016.
"We are one step closer to building the first core stage in what will hopefully be a long line of rockets to support future NASA missions," Tony Lavoie, Stages Office manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, said.
