NASA Invites Media for Look at NASA's Space Launch System Progress

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Feb 20, 2019, 15:33 ET

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Feb. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Media are invited view core stage hardware and see an engine firing test for NASA's Space Launch System, America's new deep space rocket, at NASA's facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi on Thursday, Feb. 28.

NASA recently completed the forward join, marking the beginning of integration and assembly of the massive, 212-foot-tall SLS core stage, which includes the rocket's four RS-25 rocket engines, propellant tanks and flight computers. The forward join effectively connects three major structures — the forward skirt, the liquid oxygen tank and the intertank — to form the top part of the rocket's core stage.

The massive core stage serves as the backbone of the most powerful rocket in the world. It includes the liquid hydrogen tank and liquid oxygen tank that hold 733,000 gallons of propellant to power the stage's four RS-25 engines that will send astronauts on deep space missions farther than humans have ever travelled before.

Media who would like to attend the event should contact Tracy McMahan at 256-682-5326 no later than 5 p.m. CST, Monday, Feb. 25.

This event includes factory tours. Media attendees must wear long pants and flat, closed-toe shoes with no heels. Photo identification is required and this tour is open only to U.S. citizens.

NASA and prime contractors manufacturing and testing SLS will provide expert-led facility tours and answer questions. The tours will begin at 8 a.m. CST at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, followed by an afternoon visit to the agency's Stennis Space Center in Stennis, Mississippi, to tour facilities, watch an engine test, and interview experts. Bus transportation will be provided between facilities.

Media will have the opportunity to:

Witness an engine test firing of an RS-25 engine built with 3D printed parts to increase engine affordability on future SLS missions, and interview propulsion system experts
View and photograph the recently completely forward join, or upper part, of the SLS core stage for Exploration Mission-1, the first integrated flight of SLS and the Orion spacecraft
Learn about the initial work underway for Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2), the second flight for SLS, including the core stage hardware and engines
Meet and interview young professionals and other experts who are working on America's first deep space rocket

For more on NASA's SLS, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/sls

SOURCE NASA