NEW YORK: The world’s largest and most powerful rocket booster ever built fired up this week, marking a major milestone in NASA’s – not to mention humanity’s – journey to Mars and beyond.
The 1.6 million pound boosters of NASA’s new flagship rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) filled the test faculties in Promontory, Utah on Wednesday, with their propellant heating up to just about 90 degree Fahrenheit even as rocket jets that could melt your face off left each booster’s end.
This test ensured that the boosters will indeed function well even under sweltering conditions, and the heat that it generates unto itself. A test in the near future will be launched early next year, under cold-temperature conditions, with its propellant at a chilly 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Together those two tests will provide data that will ensure that the boosters’ propellant will burn strong and true at any reasonable temperature, allowing the SLS to lift an unprecedented capacity of 130 metric tons of weight. That’s more than enough capacity to carry large-mission spacecraft like the Orion craft, its crew, and supplies, for a manned mission to mars.
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