SLS Update: A Major Milestone Is Achieved on a Future Flight Component for NASA's Mega-Rocket...

NASA

NASA Completes Design Review of the SLS Exploration Upper Stage (News Release)

The Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) for future flights of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket has passed its Critical Design Review, or CDR.

A panel of experts evaluated the EUS in the latest review to determine that the stage’s design meets requirements for future missions. This most recent assessment certifies the EUS meets critical design requirements to withstand deep space environments and when completed will ensure astronaut safety. The review board also evaluated testing processes, the ability of the industrial base to supply parts and tooling, and production plans. Boeing, the prime contractor for the EUS as well as the core stage, will manufacture and assemble the upper stage at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

A structural test article of the stage will undergo testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the SLS Program is managed. The flight article will undergo Green Run testing at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, before its first flight, similar to the SLS core stage Green Run testing currently in progress, including a hot firing of the engines.

NASA is working to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. SLS and Orion, along with the Human Landing System and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, are NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Terry White