NASA prepares for major test firing of largest rocket since Saturn V
Jan. 15 (UPI) -- NASA plans to ignite one of the largest and most powerful rockets ever built, the Space Launch System core stage, for an eight-minute test firing Saturday.
Ignition of the moon rocket is planned for 5 p.m. EST at the Stennis Space Center in rural southern Mississippi. Huge clouds of steam are expected as the test stand will be cooled by over 300,000 gallons of water per minute to prevent equipment from overheating.
"The [rocket] is instrumented with over 1,400 sensors ... that will give a lot of valuable data at the end of our hot fire," Julie Bassler, a NASA project manager for the rocket system, said in a press conference earlier this week.
The sensors will tell NASA and Boeing, which built the core stage, how the rocket performed with pressure and temperature readings, among other data, Bassler said.
Read more: https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2021/01/15/NASA-prepares-for-major-test-firing-of-largest-rocket-since-Saturn-V/2311610572427/
