We continue to make progress toward the first launch of our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the Artemis I mission around the Moon. Engineers at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi are preparing for the last two tests of the eight-part SLS core stage Green Run test series.
The test campaign is one of the final milestones before our SLS rocket launches America’s Orion spacecraft to the Moon with the Artemis program. The SLS Green Run test campaign is a series of eight different tests designed to bring the entire rocket stage to life for the first time.
As our engineers and technicians prepare for the wet dress rehearsal and the SLS Green Run hot fire, here are some numbers to keep in mind:
The SLS rocket’s core stage is the largest rocket stage we have ever produced. From top to bottom of its four RS-25 engines, the rocket stage measures 212 feet.
For each of the Green Run tests, the SLS core stage is installed in the historic B-2 Test Stand at Stennis. The test stand was updated to accommodate the SLS rocket stage and is 35 stories tall – or almost 350 feet!
All four RS-25 engines will operate simultaneously during the final Green Run Hot Fire. Fueled by the two propellant tanks, the cluster of engines will gimbal, or pivot, and fire for up to eight minutes just as if it were an actual Artemis launch to the Moon.
Our brawny SLS core stage is outfitted with three flight computers and special avionics systems that act as the “brains” of the rocket. It has 18 miles of cabling and more than 500 sensors and systems to help feed fuel and direct the four RS-25 engines.
The stage has two huge propellant tanks that collectively hold 733,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The stage weighs more than 2.3 million pounds when its fully fueled.
It’ll take 114 trucks – 54 trucks carrying liquid hydrogen and 60 trucks carrying liquid oxygen – to provide fuel to the SLS core stage.
A series of barges will deliver the propellant from the trucks to the rocket stage installed in the test stand. Altogether, six propellant barges will send fuel through a special feed system and lines. The propellant initially will be used to chill the feed system and lines to the correct cryogenic temperature. The propellant then will flow from the barges to the B-2 Test Stand and on into the stage’s tanks.
All eight of the Green Run tests and check outs will produce more than 100 terabytes of collected data that engineers will use to certify the core stage design and help verify the stage is ready for launch.
For comparison, just one terabyte is the equivalent to 500 hours of movies, 200,000 five-minute songs, or 310,000 pictures!
The B-2 Test Stand has a flame deflector that will direct the fire produced from the rocket’s engines away from the stage. Nearly 33,000 tiny, handmade holes dot the flame deflector. Why? All those minuscule holes play a huge role by directing constant streams of pressurized water to cool the hot engine exhaust.
When NASA conducts the SLS Green Run Hot Fire test at Stennis, it’ll be the first time that the SLS core stage operates just as it would on the launch pad. This test is just a preview of what’s to come for Artemis I!
The Space Launch System is the only rocket that can send NASA astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft and supplies to the Moon in a single mission. The SLS core stage is a key part of the rocket that will send the first woman and the next man to the Moon through NASA’s Artemis program.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
"Stars on Earth"
📍Oasi zegna
Crédito: Erick Colombo
https://buff.ly/3igPhBf
~Antares
Nebulosa de Orión, El corredor, Cabeza de Caballo y Flama en la constelación de Orión.
Imagen capturada con el siguiente equipo:
Canon 80D, Lente Tamron 70-200 mm f/2.8 SP Di
Exp 60 seg. X 27 fotos luz más 20 Darks ISO 3200 f/2.8 a 200 mm.
Montura Sky Watcher Star Adventurer
6 Nov 2021
Crédito: Chavo Salvador Perez
https://www.facebook.com/chavo.salvadorp
Astrofotografía México
~Antares
Fotografía de la luna el sábado 9 de Octubre 2021 en su fase creciente al 14,5% de luminosidad, una sola exposición. Sierra de Bolón, Elda.
Crédito: Jordi Coy Astrophoto
https://instagram.com/jordicoy_astrophoto
~Antares
Para este trabajo al autor le tomó aproximadamente 3 meses.
Consta de 9 fotografías de nuestro satélite lunar en cada una de sus diferentes fases lunares; durante un poco más de 90 días se realizaron casi 100 tomas en donde se seleccionó 9 días correspondientes a 9 fases lunares distintas.
Se llevó tanto tiempo debido a dificultades meteorológicas y la duración de la lunación (ciclo lunar) completa que es de 29.531 días.
📸 Camilo Morales
https://instagram.com/dreamland_cm
~Félicette
Luna Llena
Crédito: Victor Soto
https://instagram.com/arquitrovo
https://www.facebook.com/Vitorsoto
~Antares
📸 Anthony Fuentes
Ig: https://instagram.com/fuentesphotocr
📍 Puntarenas, Costa Rica
~Félicette
Sirio, Constelación de Orión y parte de la constelación de Tauro. Sus estrellas son algunas que nos indican el tiempo de frío en el hemisferio Norte.
Fotografía tomada desde Marble Canyon, Arizona.
Crédito: Evan Amos
https://instagram.com/evanamos
~Antares
Cabin crew, prepare for takeoff. Engines roar; speed increases. You sip a cold beverage as the aircraft accelerates quietly past Mach 1 or around 600 mph. There’s no indication you’re flying over land faster than the speed of sound except when you glance at your watch upon arrival and see you’ve reached your destination in half the time. You leisurely walk off the plane with ample time to explore, finish a final report or visit a familiar face. This reality is closer than you think.
We’re on a mission to help you get to where you want to go in half the time. Using our single-pilot X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) research aircraft, we will provide rule-makers the data needed to lift current bans on faster-than-sound air travel over land and help enable a new generation of commercial supersonic aircraft.
The X-59 QueSST is unique in shape. Each element of the aircraft’s design will help reduce a loud sonic boom, typically produced by conventional supersonic aircraft, to a gentle sonic thump, making it quieter for people on the ground. To prove the quiet technology works, we will fly the X-59 over select U.S. communities to gauge the public’s response to the sound.
We are working with Lockheed Martin in Palmdale, California, to manufacture the X-59 and are making significant progress, despite the pandemic.
We finished the majority of work on the wing and closed its interior, marking the halfway point on construction of the aircraft.
The X-59 team at Lockheed Martin completed the final touches by fastening skins to the wing. A special sealant is applied so that fuel can be carried in the wings of the aircraft.
Moving at a steady pace, technicians continue to work on many parts of the aircraft simultaneously. The forebody section of the aircraft will carry the pilot and all the avionics needed to fly the aircraft.
Because of the X-59’s long nose, the pilot will rely on an eXternal Vision System (XVS), rather than a window, for forward-facing visibility. The XVS will display fused images from an advanced computing system and cameras mounted on the upper and lower part of the aircraft’s nose.
The aft part of the aircraft will hold an F414 GE engine and other critical systems. Unlike typical aircraft, the engine inlet will be located on the upper surface of the X-59 and is one of many features that will help reduce the noise heard on the ground.
Over the next several months, the team will merge all three sections together. After final assembly in 2021, the X-59 will undergo numerous tests to ensure structural integrity of the aircraft and that ¬its components work properly. First flight of the aircraft will be in 2022 and community testing will start in 2024, making way for a new market of quiet commercial supersonic aircraft.
Want to learn more about the X-59 and our mission? Visit nasa.gov/X59.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Cielos de Suiza
Focus stacking o apilamiento de imágenes.
Esta técnica consiste en realizar varias fotos enfocando a un mismo objeto, sin mover la cámara, pero sí cambiando la distancia de enfoque para aumentar la profundidad de campo y conseguir que esté en foco todo lo que queramos, ya que el resultado final es la unión de todas esas imágenes.
Canon 6D astro mod, Samyang 20mm f/1 .8
Tracked/Stacked sky shots blended with a stacked foreground
Sky: 5 images, I min each, f/2.8, iso1600
Forearound: 3 stacked shots. 2 min each. iso6400
Crédito: Vasyl Yatsyna
https://instagram.com/vasylyatsyna
~Antares
Peaceful Ethereal Piano Music 🎹 Spotify Playlist
Glaretum fundado en el 2015 con el objetivo de divulgar la ciencia a través de la Astronomía hasta convertirnos en una fuente de conocimiento científico veraz siendo garantía de información seria y actualizada.
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