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<ul><li>Earlier, during the launch rocket engines were showing high temperatures and were not able to cool down.</li><li>The team also saw a hydrogen leak during the launch.</li><li>The rocket will travel about 1.3 million miles over the course of 42 days.</li></ul>The US space agency will now target September 3 as the new launch date for the Artemis I <keyword id="42440" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="moon" source="Orion">Moon</keyword> mission that was scrubbed last Monday owing to a technical glitch with one of the <keyword id="1347202" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="space-launch-system" source="Orion">Space Launch System</keyword> (SLS) rocket's engines.<br /><keyword id="6360409" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="nasa" source="Orion">NASA</keyword> Mission managers met to discuss data and develop a forward plan to address issues that arose during the launch attempt for the flight test.<br />"During that launch attempt, teams were not able to chill down the four RS-25 engines to approximately minus 420 degrees Fahrenheit, with engine 3 showing higher temperatures than the other engines," the space agency said in a statement late on Tuesday.<br />Teams also saw a hydrogen leak on a component of the tail service mast umbilical quick disconnect, called the purge can, and managed the leak by manually adjusting propellant flow rates.<br />"In the coming days, teams will modify and practice propellant loading procedures to follow a procedure similar to what was successfully performed during the Green Run at NASA's <keyword id="3001550" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="stennis-space-center" source="Orion">Stennis Space Center</keyword> in Mississippi," said NASA.<br />The updated procedures would perform the chill-down test of the engines, also called the kick start bleed test, about 30 to 45 minutes earlier in the countdown during the liquid hydrogen fast fill liquid phase for the core stage.<br />Teams also are configuring platforms at <keyword id="453776" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="launch-pad" source="Orion">Launch Pad</keyword> 39B to enable engineers access to the purge can on the tail service mast umbilical.<br />Once access is established, technicians will perform assessments and torque connection points where necessary, said NASA.<br />The Artemis I launch is part of a larger space programme to take astronauts back to the moon sometime after 2025. A first round trip test mission is to take place in about 42 days.<br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/why-nasa-scientists-are-sending-microorganisms-around-the-moon/articleshow/93521225.cms">Here’s why Nasa scientists are sending microorganisms around the moon</a><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/satellites-could-soon-beam-clean-power-down-to-earth-all-details-here/articleshow/92080493.cms"><strong>Satellites could soon beam clean power down to Earth — all details here</strong></a><br />

NASA to re-attempt the launch of the Artemis 1 moon mission on September 3

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> fired the core stage of its new <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">moon</keyword> rocket for eight minutes on Thursday, simulating a launch.</li><li>Now NASA is poised to ship that stage to Florida and finish building its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-rockets-engine-issue-could-doom-2021-launch-2021-1">Space Launch System</a>.</li><li>The mega-rocket could launch on its first <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-kathryn-lueders-promoted-human-spaceflight-chief-astronauts-moon-mars-2020-6">moon mission</a>, <keyword id="244551" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Artemis">Artemis</keyword> 1, as early as October.</li></ul><p>NASA put the core stage of its new mega-rocket through its most grueling test yet on Thursday.</p><p>In what's known as a "hot fire" test, the four RS-25 engines roared to life at 4:37 p.m. ET, producing about 2 million pounds of thrust. They continued roaring for more than eight minutes - the length of time required to deliver an upper-stage rocket and spaceship into orbit. A cloud of smoke churned out from the test stand, and when the engines finally burned through the fuel and cut off, test controllers applauded.</p><p>"There's a lot of data now that's going to have to be analyzed," Bill Wrobel, the manager of the testing program, said during NASA's live broadcast. "But I think the applause says a lot about how the team feels. They got through the test and it looks pretty good right now."</p><p>As long as the data doesn't reveal any hidden issues, Thursday's success clears the way for NASA to integrate the core stage into the agency's new moon rocket, called the <keyword id="1347202" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Space-Launch-System">Space Launch System</keyword> (<keyword id="385928" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="SLS">SLS</keyword>). The system is a cornerstone of the agency's Artemis program, which aims to put boots on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972 and lay the groundwork for a space station that would orbit the moon.</p><p>But first, SLS has to fly to the moon and back without a crew. With the hot fire done, NASA could launch that mission, called Artemis 1, before the end of the year.</p><p>In a press conference about two hours after the test, SLS program manager John Honeycutt said that the core stage "got an A+ today."</p><p>The only abnormality NASA has identified so far came from cork insulation that caught fire around one of the engines. That wouldn't happen during flight, because the rocket won't sit in its own engine heat as it soars through the skies, Honeycutt said.</p><h2>The world's most powerful rocket stage</h2><div type="image" title="sls hot fire 2 stennis space center" height="1330" width="1773" msid="81579093" hostid="261"></div><p>The rocket's core stage is the biggest piece of SLS and its structural backbone. It's also the world's largest and most powerful rocket stage, according to NASA.</p><p>On Thursday, the 212-foot-tall stage stood vertical, strapped into a test stand at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Six barges carried 733,000 gallons of cryogenically chilled propellant to the stand and, over several hours, the fuel was pumped into the rocket stage's tanks. The engines burned through all that fuel in the expected timeframe.</p><p>"It's been several years since I experienced the vibration and the sense of the power and the feeling of a rocket like this. And it literally just gives me cold chills whenever I get to experience that," Honeycutt said.</p><p>This final development test suggests that the stage's engines can survive the journey from a launchpad to Earth's orbit. If data from the test leads to the same conclusion, NASA will ship the core to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the rest of SLS waits. The agency plans to make that shipment in mid-April, according to Julie Bassler, who manages the SLS stages.</p><p>The final product is designed to stand 365 feet tall, with twin rocket boosters strapped to the core stage and NASA's Orion spacecraft secured on top of it.</p><div type="image" title="space launch system" height="879" width="1172" msid="81579094" hostid="261"></div><p>The system could launch to the moon as early as October. If that mission happens on schedule and goes smoothly, NASA would then be on track to realize its goal of ferrying astronauts to the moon sometime in the mid- to late-2020s. </p><p>Eventually, NASA has said, SLS could even carry humans to Mars.</p><div type="image" title="orion spacecraft sls artemis 1 moon mission" height="1152" width="1536" msid="81579095" hostid="261"></div><h2>NASA tried a hot-fire test in January, but it was cut short</h2><p>NASA has spent about $18 billion developing SLS. Boeing built the core stage, and Aerojet Rocketdyne supplied the RS-25 engines, which were also used on NASA's fleet of space shuttles. The hot fire is the eighth and final step in a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemisprogram/greenrun">program</a> the agency designed to thoroughly test each part of the core stage before launch.</p><p>This was NASA's second hot fire. The first was in January, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-rockets-engine-issue-could-doom-2021-launch-2021-1">the engines suddenly shut down just</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-rockets-engine-issue-could-doom-2021-launch-2021-1"> one minute in</a>.</p><div type="image" title="NASA sls engine shutdown space launch system hot fire" height="1000" width="2000" msid="81579096" hostid="261"></div><p>It turned out that a flight computer had automatically aborted the test because a system controlling the engines' movements had exceeded the limits NASA set ahead of the hot fire. The limits were intentionally conservative, NASA said, because the agency doesn't want to push the rocket so hard that it gets damaged during testing. </p><p>But in the two months since, NASA has adjusted the test parameters to be less conservative. If the system had exceeded the prior limits during an actual launch, the agency later said, the rocket would have continued to fly.</p><div type="image" title="nasa space launch system sls core stage green run stennis january 2021" height="2000" width="2666" msid="81579097" hostid="261"></div><p>The January test's abrupt ending meant that the SLS team only had enough data to verify three of 10 design requirements. That's why they redid the hot fire on Thursday.</p><p>In preparation for the second hot fire, the team also repaired a valve for the engines' liquid-oxygen tank that was not opening properly.</p><h2>The next moon flight could launch as early as October</h2><p>None of the prior issues seemed to arise during Thursday's hot fire, which burned for eight minutes and 19 seconds. SLS program managers had previously said they would need at least four minutes of data in order to verify the rest of their design requirements.</p><p>"We did twice as good as we needed," Bassler said.</p><div type="image" title="space launch system sls nasa rocket boosters kennedy space center" height="685" width="914" msid="81579098" hostid="261"></div><p>Now, the SLS team will comb through data from the test and finish the necessary verifications to certify the core stage for flight. It will take about a month to refurbish the hardware so that it's ready to fire the engines again on launch day, according to Tom Whitmeyer, who leads the NASA program that develops new systems like SLS.</p><p>NASA has tentatively set the Artemis 1 launch date for November, but SLS program managers have said the rocket could lift off as early as October.</p><p>"We're still on path to have an opportunity to launch this year, but we recognize also that there are things that can come up, like weather and COVID and some first-time operations," Whitmeyer said ahead of the second hot fire. "So the plan is to launch this year, but we'll continue to provide progress as we go through the year and we'll certainly let you know how we're doing."</p><p><em>This post has been updated with new information. It was originally published at 5:05 p.m. ET on March 18, 2021.</em></p>

NASA has successfully fired its new moon rocket's 4 core engines - a key step towards a launch later this year

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sound-nasa-perseverance-rover-lasers-zapping-rocks-mars-2021-3">NASA</a> plans to fire the <keyword id="240487" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="engines">engines</keyword> on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-rockets-engine-issue-could-doom-2021-launch-2021-1">the core stage of its new moon rocket</a> on Thursday.</li><li>If the hot fire succeeds, the <keyword id="1347202" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Space-Launch-System">Space Launch System</keyword> rocket could be ready to launch in November.</li><li>Watch the test fire live on <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> TV below.</li></ul><p><em><strong>Update: </strong>The <keyword id="385928" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="SLS">SLS</keyword> core stage successfully fired its engines for more than eight minutes on Thursday. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-hot-fire-moon-rocket-space-launch-system-2021-3">Read more here.</a></em></p><p>NASA is building the world's most powerful rocket stage in order to bring a new generation of astronauts to the <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">moon</keyword>. On Thursday, the agency plans to fire the engines.</p><p>The rocket, called Space Launch System (SLS), is designed to eventually stand 365 feet (111 meters) tall. The system is a piece of NASA's larger <keyword id="244551" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Artemis">Artemis</keyword> program, a roughly $30 billion effort to put people on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. NASA has spent about $18 billion developing the rocket.</p><p>The 212-foot-tall core stage - the system's biggest piece and its structural backbone - is the world's largest and most powerful rocket stage, according to NASA. It's currently clamped into a test stand at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, ready for what's known as a "hot fire" test on Thursday afternoon. </p><p>That means NASA will fire the engines continuously for about eight minutes - the length of time required to deliver an upper-stage rocket and spaceship into orbit. If the engines pass this test, the core stage will be ready to join the rest of the rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.</p><div type="image" title="nasa space launch system sls core stage green run stennis january 2021" height="2000" width="2666" msid="81556972" hostid="261"></div><p>This hot fire is the eighth and final step in NASA's <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemisprogram/greenrun" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green Run</a> program, which is designed to thoroughly test each part of the core stage ahead of SLS's first launch - an uncrewed test flight around the moon called Artemis 1. If the hot fire goes as planned, SLS could launch in November.</p><p>The eventual goal is to ferry astronauts to the moon sometime in the mid- to late-2020s. </p><div type="image" title="sls space launch system nasa" height="1247" width="1662" msid="81556974" hostid="261"></div><p>"Our core-stage Green Run is the most comprehensive test that we're undertaking to make sure that SLS can safely launch the Artemis missions to the moon," John Honeycutt, the SLS program manager, said in a February press conference. "This is a generational opportunity to learn as much as we can about the rocket while we've got it in this test configuration before we get to fly."</p><h2>Watch NASA's rocket test-fire</h2><p>NASA TV begins a live broadcast of the test at 3:45 p.m. ET on Thursday. Watch the video here:</p><p>To prepare for the test, six barges will transport 733,000 gallons of cryogenically chilled propellant to the test site early on Thursday. Three of the barges will carry liquid hydrogen, while the other three carry liquid oxygen. The core stage has one fuel tank for each. Once NASA gives the "go," the barges will load the propellant into those tanks, preparing the rocket stage for fire.</p><h2>The last hot fire attempt cut itself short</h2><p>Boeing is NASA's lead contractor for the core stage, and Aerojet Rocketdyne is responsible for its four RS-25 engines, which were also used on NASA's fleet of space shuttles.</p><p>NASA previously attempted this same hot-fire test in January, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-rockets-engine-issue-could-doom-2021-launch-2021-1">the engines suddenly shut down j</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-rockets-engine-issue-could-doom-2021-launch-2021-1">ust one minute in</a>.</p><div type="image" title="NASA sls engine shutdown space launch system hot fire" height="1000" width="2000" msid="81556976" hostid="261"></div><p>It turned out that a flight computer had automatically aborted the test because a system controlling the engines' movements had exceeded limits that NASA set ahead of the hot fire. The limits were intentionally conservative, NASA said, because the agency doesn't want to push the rocket so hard that it gets damaged during testing. </p><p>But in the two months since, NASA has adjusted the test parameters to be less conservative. The SLS team determined that it can expand the limits without much additional risk to the hardware, Honeycutt said. If the system had exceeded the prior limits during an actual launch, NASA said, the rocket would have continued to fly.</p><p>The team has also repaired a liquid-oxygen valve that was not opening properly, an issue they discovered while preparing for the upcoming hot fire. </p><p>This time, SLS program managers are hoping the engines will fire for at least four minutes. Though the full test should be eight minutes, four would give NASA enough data to verify that the core stage is safe for flight.</p><p>If anything goes wrong, NASA will have to redo the hot fire a third time, which could delay the first mission and throw a wrench into the ambitious timeline of the Artemis program overall. The program aims to land the first woman and the next man on the moon in 2024. </p><p>"We're still on path to have an opportunity to launch this year, but we recognize also that there are things that can come up, like weather and COVID and some first-time operations," Tom Whitmeyer, who leads the NASA program that develops new exploration systems like SLS and Orion, said in the press conference. "So the plan is to launch this year, but we'll continue to provide progress as we go through the year and we'll certainly let you know how we're doing."</p><p><em>This post has been updated with new information. It was originally published on March 17, 2021.</em></p>

Watch NASA test-fire the world's most powerful rocket stage - a critical step towards the next moon mission

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> hit a snag during <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-space-launch-system-rocket-hot-fire-video-watch-live-2021-1">a critical test of the core stage of its moon rocket</a>, the <keyword id="1347202" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Space-Launch-System">Space Launch System</keyword>, on Saturday.</li><li>The test automatically ended due to an issue with an engine's hydraulic system, NASA <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2021/01/19/green-run-update-data-and-inspections-indicate-core-stage-in-good-condition/">said</a> Tuesday.</li><li>The rocket was scheduled to launch in November 2021 and kick off the agency's <keyword id="244551" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Artemis">Artemis</keyword> moon-landing program, but the new issue could delay that launch — and the return of humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.</li></ul><p>NASA's mega-sized <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">moon</keyword> rocket hit a snag during a critical test on Saturday, and the error could further delay the agency's effort to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-details-of-artemis-missions-astronauts-return-to-moon-2020-9">send astronauts back to the moon</a>.</p><p>The rocket, called Space Launch System (<keyword id="385928" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="SLS">SLS</keyword>), is designed to eventually stand 365 feet (111 meters) and ferry astronauts to the moon sometime in the mid- to late-2020s. The system is an essential piece of a larger program called Artemis, a roughly $30 billion effort to put boots back on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. NASA has spent about $18 billion developing the rocket.</p><p>The SLS core stage - the system's largest piece and its structural backbone - was assembled and heavily strapped down at Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, on Saturday for a critical "hot fire" test. For the first time, the rocket was ready to simultaneously fire its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-launch-system-rocket-engine-test-sls-nasa-2018-2">four powerful RS-25 engines</a> as it would for launch.</p><div type="image" title="nasa space launch system sls core stage green run stennis january 2021" height="2000" width="2666" msid="80309519" hostid="261"></div><p>The core stage is the world's largest and most powerful rocket stage, according to NASA. It hosts five mains sections, including a 537,000-gallon (2 million-liter) tank for liquid hydrogen, a 196,000-gallon (742,000-liter) tank for liquid oxygen, four RS-25 engines, avionics computers, and other subsystems. Boeing is the lead contractor for the stage, and Aerojet Rocketdyne is responsible for its RS-25 engines, which used to help propel NASA's fleet of space shuttles.</p><p>The fuel tanks were filled with 733,000 gallons of cryogenically chilled propellant on Saturday, and the engines roared to life at about 5:27 p.m. EST.</p><p>"It was like an earthquake," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told reporters in a press conference after the test. "It was a magnificent moment. And it just brought joy that after all this time, now we've got a rocket. The only rocket on the face of the planet capable of taking humans to the moon was firing all four RS-25 engines at the same time."</p><p>The engines were supposed to fire continuously for eight minutes. But just one minute into the test, they suddenly shut down.</p><p>The whole thing was captured on NASA's live broadcast:</p><p>Following publication of this story, which stated there was a problem with one of the engines, Ryan McKibben, the deputy chief of mechanical operations at NASA's Stennis Space Center, contacted Insider with new details about the anomaly.</p><p>"I can assure you as the test conductor that we did not end the test early due to our engines," McKibben said. "We had a redundant sensor go out on an engine. But the engine was and is still in great shape after the test. The cutoff was due to other reasons."</p><p>This particular rocket stage is the one that's set to fly Artemis 1 - an uncrewed test flight around the moon. NASA doesn't want to push the rocket so hard as to damage it during testing, so it set conservative limits on the hardware's operations for Saturday's hot fire.</p><p>In a <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2021/01/19/green-run-update-data-and-inspections-indicate-core-stage-in-good-condition/">blog post</a> on Tuesday, NASA said that its preliminary investigation into the hot fire had revealed that these strict limits may have been the source of the shutdown.</p><h2>'No, this is not a failure'</h2><p>During the hot fire, the engines were "gimbaling," or pivoting, to imitate how they would move to direct the rocket's thrust during flight. The systems that control these movements are powered by Core Stage Auxiliary Power Units (CAPUs).</p><div type="image" title="NASA sls space launch system hot fire engines" height="1603" width="2138" msid="80352910" hostid="261"></div><p>When the hydraulic system on the CAPU for Engine 2 exceeded NASA's conservative limits, the flight computers automatically shut down the entire test.</p><p>"If this scenario occurred during a flight, the rocket would have continued to fly using the remaining CAPUs to power the thrust vector control systems for the engines," NASA said in its post.</p><p>Two other issues arose during the hot fire, though they weren't significant enough to shut down the operation. Engine 4 lost a redundant sensor, leading it to register a "major component failure" about 1.5 seconds after firing began. Controllers also saw a flash next to the thermal-protection blanket covering that engine, though the blog post didn't reveal any findings on what may have caused it.</p><p>At the time of shutdown, "we did still have four good engines up and running at 109%," John Honeycutt, the SLS program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, said in the press conference.</p><p>"The amount of progress that we've made here today is remarkable. And no, this is not a failure. This is a test. And we tested today in a way that is meaningful, where we're going to learn and we're going to make adjustments and we're going to fly to the moon," Bridenstine said.</p><h2>NASA may need to re-do the hot fire test</h2><p>Saturday's hot fire was supposed to be the eighth and final step in NASA's "Green Run," a program designed to thoroughly test each part of the core stage ahead of SLS's first launch for Artemis 1, which currently scheduled for November 2021.</p><div type="image" title="space launch system" height="879" width="1172" msid="80310183" hostid="261"></div><p>But that timeline may be unrealistic now. If the hot fire went well, NASA was planning to ship the rocket to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida in February. There, workers would stack all the segments of the two boosters required for sending Artemis 1 around the moon.</p><p>It's unclear how long it will take NASA to correct the engine error and get the core stage to Florida now.</p><p>"It depends what the anomaly was and how challenging it's going to be to fix it. And we've got a lot to learn to figure that out," Bridenstine said. "It very well could be that it's something that's easily fixable and we could feel confident going down to the Cape and staying on schedule. It's also true that we could find a challenge that's going to take more time."</p><div type="image" title="space launch system sls hot fire nasa green run" height="1281" width="1708" msid="80310184" hostid="261"></div><p>The agency may have to redo the hot fire test. The SLS team wanted to get to at least 250 seconds of the engines firing together to have high confidence in the vehicle. Saturday's test lasted for just 67 seconds.</p><p>"My advice would be to retest and get complete data," Wayne Hale, a retired NASA Space-Shuttle flight director, said on <a href="https://twitter.com/waynehale/status/1351569272594698242">Twitter</a> after NASA's updates from its preliminary investigation. "May be a couple of weeks but schedule is secondary."</p><p>It would take at least four or five days to prepare the Stennis Space Center facilities for another test. If NASA needs to swap the current engines for new ones, workers can do it on-site at the Stennis Space Center. Honeycutt estimated it would take about seven to 10 days to do that.</p><p>"This is why we test," Bridenstine said. "Before we put American astronauts on American rockets, that's when we need it to be perfect."</p><p><em>This story has been updated with new information. It was originally published at 8:17 p.m. EST on January 16, 2021.</em></p><p><em>Dave Mosher contributed reporting.</em></p>

A critical test of NASA's moon rocket ended abruptly on Saturday, possibly dashing hopes of launching in 2021

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> plans to test-fire the core stage of its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-sls-replacement-spacex-bfr-blue-origin-new-glenn-2018-11">Space Launch System</a> on Saturday around 4 p.m. EST.</li><li>The core stage will burn through more than 700,000 gallons of liquid propellant over eight minutes while strapped to a test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.</li><li>NASA TV plans to broadcast <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELHOXi2t3lk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">live coverage</a> of the firing — the final test in the agency's "Green Run" series — starting at 3:20 p.m. EST.</li><li>The test is a crucial step toward the first launch of <keyword id="385928" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="SLS">SLS</keyword>, which is currently scheduled for November 2021.</li></ul><p><em><strong>Update (5:40 p.m. EST):</strong> The SLS engines <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-rockets-engine-issue-could-doom-2021-launch-2021-1">shut down after firing for about one minute and 15 seconds</a>, apparently due to a "major component failure" on the fourth engine.</em></p><p>NASA plans to fire up the world's most powerful rocket stage on Saturday in a vital test for its forthcoming mega-size <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">moon</keyword> rocket, and you can watch live video of the action below.</p><p>The final rocket, called <keyword id="1347202" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Space-Launch-System">Space Launch System</keyword>, is designed to eventually stand 365 feet (111 meters) and ferry astronauts to the moon sometime in the mid- to late-2020s. The system is an essential piece of a larger program called <keyword id="244551" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Artemis">Artemis</keyword>, a roughly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-artemis-moon-base-apollo-space-rocket-sls-2019-9">$30 billion effort</a> to put boots back on the lunar surface <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">for the first time since 1972</a>.</p><p>NASA expects to hot-fire the 212-foot (65-meter) core stage of SLS - the system's largest piece and its structural backbone - at Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, around 4 p.m. EST on Saturday. Boeing is the core stage's lead contractor, and Aerojet Rocketdyne is responsible for its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-launch-system-rocket-engine-test-sls-nasa-2018-2">four powerful RS-25 engines</a>, which used to help propel NASA's fleet of space shuttles.</p><p>The core stage's firing is the eighth and final step in NASA's "<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemisprogram/greenrun" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green Run</a>," a program designed to thoroughly test each part of the core stage ahead of SLS's first launch, called Artemis 1 - an uncrewed test flight currently scheduled for November 2021.</p><div type="image" title="space launch system" height="879" width="1172" msid="80306550" hostid="261"></div><p>The core stage is the world's largest and most powerful rocket stage, according to NASA. It hosts five mains sections, including a 537,000-gallon (2 million-liter) tank for liquid hydrogen, a 196,000-gallon (742,000-liter) tank for liquid oxygen, four RS-25 engines, avionics computers, and other subsystems.</p><p>NASA <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2021/01/16/green-run-update-test-team-gives-a-go-to-proceed-with-tanking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gave a "go"</a> on Saturday morning to fuel the core stage with 733,000 gallons of cryogenically chilled propellant. It took several hours to transfer the hydrogen and oxygen stored nearby in six barges, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-bridenstine-plans-to-resign-not-join-biden-administration-2020-11">outgoing NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine</a> said in <a href="https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1350501806384816129" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a tweet</a>.</p><p>The rocket stage is vertical on the B-2 Test Stand in Stennis but is heavily strapped down. If all four engines perform normally, they'll produce about 1.6 million pounds of thrust for 485 seconds, or just over eight minutes - the length of time required to deliver an upper-stage rocket and Orion spaceship into orbit.</p><p>NASA's last major test-firing of an SLS component happened on September 2, when Northrop Grumman successfully <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-successfully-test-fired-most-powerful-rocket-booster-ever-2020-9">ignited a 176-foot-tall (54-meter) side booster</a>. Two of the solid-fuel boosters will strap to the core stage and provide about 75% of the force required to heave SLS off its launch pad and toward space during the first two minutes of flight.</p><p>If the core stage's hot fire goes well, NASA will ship the rocket to Kennedy Space Center in Florida in February. By that time, workers are expected to have stacked all the segments of two boosters required for sending Artemis 1 around the moon.</p><p>"Our team is locked in and focused on delivering the rocket for a 2021 launch," John Honeycutt, the SLS program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday. "This powerful rocket is going to put us in a position to be ready to support the agency and the country's deep-space mission to the moon and beyond."</p><h2>Watch live video of the core stage's hot fire</h2><p>NASA is giving itself two hours to conduct the core stage's liquid-fuel test on Saturday, which can begin as soon as 4 p.m. ET.</p><p>NASA TV plans to broadcast live coverage of the test starting at 3:20 p.m. ET, which you can watch via the embedded YouTube player below.</p><p><em>This story has been updated. It was originally published at 12:47 p.m. EST on January 16, 2021.</em></p><p><em><strong>Do you have a story or inside information to share about the space industry?</strong> <a href="mailto:dmosher+tips@businessinsider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Email</a> Dave Mosher, send him a Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/davemosher" target="_blank" rel="noopener">direct message</a>, or consider more secure communication options <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/dave-mosher" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed here</a>.</em></p>

Watch video of NASA test-firing the world's most powerful rocket stage

<br /><ul><li>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is going to 'Green Run Test' its Artemis launch. </li><li>The launch is integrating a lot of new technology like the tallest ever rocket stage that NASA has ever built, its RS-25 engines and the <keyword id="2065228" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Orion-spacecraft">Orion spacecraft</keyword>.</li><li><keyword id="4956577" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jim-Bridenstine">Jim Bridenstine</keyword>, NASA's administrator, tweeted that it's better to spot any issues with Artemis 'earlier rather than later'.</li></ul>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/green-run-test-paves-way-for-nasa-moon-missions.html">NASA</a>) is going to be testing the first eight minutes of the Artemis launch sequence to make sure that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-artemis-mission-to-the-moon-successfully-completes-launch-abort-test/articleshow/70068286.cms">all goes according to plan</a> on D-Day. <br /><br />This is the first time since 1972 that the US is attempting to go back to the Moon, and looks like it wants to get it right. Jim Bridenstine, NASA's Administrator, tweeted that it's important to find issues with the launch vehicle 'earlier rather than later'.<br /><br />
	<div type="twitter" handle="JimBridenstine" handlename="Jim Bridenstine" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1154488953917104130/qujJzZ6d_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1326" retweetcount="225" status=".@NASA will do a Green Run test for @NASA_SLS prior to #Artemis 1. Here’s why:  • Astronaut safety is our #1 priori… https://t.co/3BKxaDTsl4" createdat="1564083863000" id="1154477516305969152"></div>



<br />This is also the first time that NASA will use its 212 foot tall core rocket stage — the tallest rocket stage it has ever built. It will support the 8.8 million pounds of thrust required to get the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/vice-president-unveils-nasa-spacecraft-for-artemis-1-lunar-mission-on-moon-landing">Orion spacecraft</a>, built specifically for Artemis, off the ground.<br /><br />
  <div type="image" title="48332441661_e55d8fdd2a_k_edited" msid="70391385" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Vice President Unveils NASA Spacecraft for Artemis 1 Lunar Mission on Moon Landing Anniversary&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br /><br /><strong>All systems go<br /></strong><br />The <keyword id="1347202" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Space-Launch-System">Space Launch System</keyword> (SLS) rocket is the only one that can send Orion, astronauts and the supplies they need to the Moon on a single mission.<br /><br />Its 'Green Run Test' at NASA's Stennis Space Center can be broken into two parts. 'Green' refers to the new hardware that's being implemented to power the launch. And, 'run' refers to all the systems working together in sync for the first time. <br /><br />
  <div type="ExtQuote" text="The SLS core stage is an engineering feat that includes not only the largest rocket propellant tanks ever built but also sophisticated avionics and main propulsion systems." auname="Lisa Bates, SLS deputy stages manager"></div>



<br />For instance, RS-25 engine is a new technology developed by NASA. These engines were individually tested earlier this year. But, the 'Green Run Test' will have the engines working alongside the other systems required to launch Artemis into space.<br /><br />
  <div type="image" title="rs-25_engine_test_2_1_edited" msid="70391430" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Four RS-25 engines, like the one pictured undergoing a hot-fire test, will power the core stage of NASA&amp;#39;s Space Launch System (SLS) -- NASA&amp;#39;s new heavy-lift launch vehicle.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br />"With Green Run, we verify each individual component operates well within the core stage system," states Lisa Bates, SLS deputy stages manager.<br /><br />"It's more than testing. It's the first time the stage will come to life and be fully operational from the avionics in the top of the core stage to the engines at the bottom," she explains.<br /><br />This is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-mission-to-moon-explained-by-indian-origin-scientist/articleshow/69837264.cms">first time</a> since the Apollo Program shut down in 1972 that the United States is attempting to go back to the Moon. Their final and sixth manned Moon landing was Apollo 17 in December 1972.<br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-artemis-mission-to-the-moon-successfully-completes-launch-abort-test/articleshow/70068286.cms">NASA just made sure its astronauts will be safe if the 2024 Artemis mission to the Moon fails</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasas-artemis-plans-to-take-first-woman-to-the-moon/articleshow/70325470.cms">In a giant step, a woman will take the lead in NASA's Artemis</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/elon-musk-says-spacex-could-land-on-the-moon-in-2-years-a-nasa-executive-says-well-partner-with-them-and-well-get-there-faster-if-the-company-can-pull-it-off-/articleshow/70364330.cms">Elon Musk says SpaceX could land on the moon in 2 years. A NASA executive says 'we'll partner with them, and we'll get there faster' if the company can pull it off.</a><br />

NASA is testing all its new tech for its manned mission to the Moon

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/rs-25-engines-powered-to-highest-level-ever-during-stennis-test">NASA Stennis Space Center</a></span></p><p class="caption"> NASA is modifying and testing space shuttle engines for use on its new Space Launch System mega-rocket. </p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>NASA is building the most powerful rocket in history, called Space Launch System (SLS).</strong></li><li><strong>The new rocket will use retrofitted space shuttle engines to send people to the moon, Mars, and beyond.</strong></li><li><strong>NASA recently test-fired one modified RS-25 space shuttle engine at "113% thrust" to observe its behavior for SLS.</strong></li><li><strong>The first SLS mission is supposed to fly a space capsule around the moon, but the program is behind schedule and ballooning in cost.</strong></li></ul><p><br />NASA fired up a rocket engine pulled from a space shuttle on Wednesday - then cranked the power up to 11.</p><p>But this hot fire, as such rocket engine tests are known, wasn't done out of nostalgia for the space shuttle program, which retired in July 2011.</p><p>The purpose was to see how the engine, known as an RS-25, behaved after NASA modified it to power a brand-new mega-rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS).</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/tag/rs-25-engine/">NASA</a></span></p><p class="caption">One of NASA's RS-25 rocket engines being trucked out to a test-firing mount in Mississippi.</p></div><p></p></div></div>SLS is a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/588413main_SLS_Fun_Facts.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">321-foot-tall</a> rocket that will outperform the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-falcon-heavy-vs-apollo-saturn-v-rocket-2016-7">Saturn V rockets</a> that sent Apollo astronauts on the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/earth-is-heaven-james-lovell-lunar-astronaut-2017-3">first lunar missions</a>. SLS may take astronauts to the moon, Mars, and beyond.</p><p>Four RS-25 engines - each 14 feet tall and weighing 3.9 tons - will line the base of the rocket's core boosters. Combined with two side boosters, the engines will help make SLS the most powerful rocket ever built.</p><p>For the Feb. 21 test at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the engines were outfitted with new 3D-printed parts to reach "113 percent thrust level" - 13% beyond what the engines were designed to achieve some 40 years ago.</p><p>"Increased engine performance is crucial for enabling SLS missions to deep space as the rocket evolves to be larger and carry astronauts and heavy cargo on a single flight," NASA wrote in <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/rs-25-engines-powered-to-highest-level-ever-during-stennis-test" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a story</a> about the hot-fire test.</p><h2>Funding a maiden flight and astronaut-less lunar voyage</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/6753/">NASA/MSFC</a></span></p><p class="caption">An artist's depiction of NASA's Space Launch System rocketing a crew toward orbit.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>NASA is working toward a maiden flight with SLS called "Exploration Mission 1." While that test mission won't launch any people, it will rocket NASA's Orion space capsule around the moon and back to Earth on a roughly three-week voyage, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-ins-and-outs-of-nasa-s-first-launch-of-sls-and-orion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the space agency</a>.</p><p>The SLS rocket for the mission is designed to haul nearly 29 tons out to the moon, or about two school buses' worth of mass. The final version of SLS could lift as much as 50 tons on a lunar mission.</p><p>Exploration Mission 1 (also known as EM-1) was originally planned to lift off in December 2017, but NASA has delayed the mission multiple times. This is primarily due to the program's multi-billion-dollar cost and a flat NASA budget, according to <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-248T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Government Accountability Office report</a>.</p><p>The space agency faces a $200 million annual budget cut if President Donald Trump's proposed $19.1-billion request is enacted. However, a Senate-led NASA funding bill that Trump <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-law-budget-president-trump-2017-3">signed into law in March 2017</a> calls for $19.5 billion - a $200 million increase in space-agency funding. (Congressional appropriators will ultimately have to reconcile the difference.)</p><p>NASA recently said it expects to launch the rocket for the first time <a href="https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/11/20/nasa-expects-first-space-launch-system-flight-to-slip-into-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in 2020</a> at the earliest.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://davemosher.com">Dave Mosher/Business Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket launches toward space for the first time on February 6, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div>By the end of 2018, NASA will have spent about $23 billion on the SLS program, according to <a href="https://oig.nasa.gov/audits/reports/FY17/IG-17-017.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an April 2017</a> report by NASA's Office of Inspector General. Part of that cost is sunk into retrofitting a mobile launch tower originally built for NASA's cancelled Ares rocket program.</p><p>By the time the tower gets used for EM-1, NASA will have spent eight years and $912 million on it. Even then, as Ars Technica reported, it will only be good for one launch <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/02/nasa-spends-1-billion-for-a-launch-tower-that-leans-may-only-be-used-once/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">because it's leaning</a>.</p><p>To <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-crewed-exploration-plans-sls-2017-4">reach Mars</a>, NASA will need more than $210 billion in funding, according to the Office of Inspector General. And that's not even to set foot on the planet's surface - just orbit it. (Though the first Mars astronauts might explore the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spidersuit-mars-astronauts-lockheed-nasa-2017-5">moon Phobos</a>.)</p><p>Meanwhile, private companies like Elon Musk's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/falcon-heavy-spacex-epic-rocket-launch-in-person-2018-2">SpaceX</a>, Jeff Bezos' <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blue-origin-new-glenn-rockets-2016-9">Blue Origin</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-vulcan-rocket-works-united-launch-alliance-2018-2">ULA</a>, and others are working on colossal new launch systems that may come close to rivaling SLS. Their launch power may even exceed it, and for far <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-cost-industry-pricing-vs-ula-2018-2">less money</a>.</p><p>But rockets are not easy to design, build, and make safe to launch, so the major players are still emerging in what's quickly becoming a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/falcon-heavy-space-race-elon-musk-spacex-blue-origin-2018-2">new space race</a>.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spacecraft-cemetery-pacific-ocean-dead-satellites-2017-10">There's a place at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean where hundreds of giant spacecraft go to die</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

NASA just fired an old space shuttle engine at '113% thrust' - and plans to use it on a new mega-rocket

<br /><ul><li>It’s been nearly five decades since humans have visited the Moon.</li><li>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Artemis is humanity’s glorious return pegged to launch in 2024.</li><li>However, the base where the rocket and capsule for the mission were being tested and produced has been forced to shut down due to rising cases of Coronavirus in the country.</li></ul>It looks like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will have to wait a little longer to return to the Moon. The US space agency is forced to suspend work on the rocket and capsule for the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasas-30-billion-artemis-missions-will-attempt-to-set-up-a-moon-base/articleshow/71280132.cms">$30 billion Artemis missions</a> due to the increasing number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the country.<br /><br /><div type="image" title="artemis_edited" msid="74774981" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Artist&amp;#39;s concept of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule prepared for launch&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

<br />The delay could mean that NASA will miss its 2024 deadline, which many experts felt was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/3-apollo-astronauts-weigh-in-on-trumps-push-to-land-nasa-astronauts-on-the-moon-in-5-years/articleshow/69897306.cms">overly ambitious</a> to begin with — but marked humanity’s return to the lunar surface after nearly five decades. The last crewed Apollo Mission was on 7 December 1972.<br /><br />"The change at Stennis [Space Centre] was made due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the community around the center, the number of self-isolation cases within our workforce there, and one confirmed case among our Stennis team," said NASA administrator <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/march-19-administrator-statement-on-agency-response-to-coronavirus">Jim Bridenstine</a>.<br /><br /><div type="image" title="artemis3_edited" msid="74775011" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The first Artemis rocket stage&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

<br />All the hardware and components will be safely tucked away until it’s safe for people to return to work. This means that not only has production been halted, but testing has also been suspended until further notice.<br /><br /><strong>Setting up a base on the Moon<br /></strong>Visiting the Moon this time wasn’t just about exploring the lunar surface, but about setting up a human base. It would allow humans to explore other planets, without having to carry the entire fuel supply from Earth.<br /><br />Dubbed Lunar Gateway, it won’t actually be on the Moon but in orbit around the planet’s natural satellite. According to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/questions-nasas-new-spaceship">NASA</a>, it would take astronauts only five days to make the journey.<br /><br />The massive spacecraft will be smaller than the International Space Station with living quarters, labs for research, and docking ports for visitors. From the Lunar Gateway, astronauts could lead expeditions onto the Moon or future human missions that head out to Mars.<br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-artemis-mission-to-the-moon-successfully-completes-launch-abort-test/articleshow/70068286.cms">NASA just made sure its astronauts will be safe if the 2024 Artemis mission to the Moon fails</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-is-testing-all-its-new-tech-for-its-manned-mission-to-the-moon/articleshow/70391104.cms">NASA is testing all its new tech for its manned mission to the Moon</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasas-30-billion-artemis-missions-will-attempt-to-set-up-a-moon-base/articleshow/71280132.cms">NASA's $30 billion Artemis missions will attempt to set up a moon base</a></strong><br />

Humans have to wait longer to land on the Moon again as Coronavirus shuts down Artemis

<ul class="summary-list"><li>When Navy Capt. Cassidy "Dudley" Norman landed an F/A-18E Super Hornet on the <keyword id="42406" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier">aircraft carrier</keyword> USS Gerald R. Ford in October, he entered rare company for a Navy aviator.</li><li>With the Ford, Norman has now landed on <keyword id="413144" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Aircraft-carriers">aircraft carriers</keyword> of six different classes. That's not a common accomplishment, and it's one that's given him a front-row seat to the evolution of the Navy's flattops.</li></ul><p>As Navy Capt. Cassidy "Dudley" Norman prepared for his first landing on the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, he did what any civilian looking to beef up some skills might do.</p><p>Norman, a naval aviator for more than a quarter-century, turned to YouTube.</p><p>"I came home and looked up YouTube videos to see if I could see the approach onto USS Gerald R. Ford from the cockpit of a plane that's coming in to land so I could actually see it, you know?" Norman said in a phone interview with Insider. "I found a couple, but none that were perfect."</p><p>Norman already knew of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-gerald-r-ford-aircraft-carrier-doesnt-have-urinals-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ford's many upgrades from the Nimitz class</a>, including its advanced arresting gear to trap landing aircraft and the replacement of steam catapults with an electromagnetic system that the Navy has touted as revolutionary.</p><div type="image" title="USS Gerald R Ford" height="523" width="1000" msid="79682592" hostid="261"></div><p>Ford also looks different. Its "island," or command tower, sits 140 feet aft, or back, from its mid-ship location on Nimitz-class carriers.</p><p>"Compared to the other ships that island is way back there," Norman said. "When you're landing, I'm used to looking down the glide slope and I see <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/video/712796/v2-visual-land-aid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the lens</a> and it's on the left side of the runway, and the tower is exactly across it on the right side, kind of a balanced picture. So I was concerned that when I looked at the Ford, I was going to try to fly the plane so that I landed by the tower."</p><p>Norman completed four traps and two touch-and-goes to qualify on Ford in late October as a member of the Virginia Beach-based Strike Fighter Squadron 106, a fleet replacement squadron known as the "Gladiators."</p><p>Those qualifying flights catapulted him into a new class that few other naval aviators can likely claim: He's trapped on six classes of super carriers.</p><div type="image" title="Cassidy Norman Navy pilot aircraft carrier" height="1333" width="2000" msid="79682594" hostid="261"></div><p>Norman has accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours and 702 traps over his career.</p><p>He's humble about his accomplishment, pointing out that others have more flight hours and traps and adding that he's benefited from timing. He was aware of only one other naval aviator who had snagged a similar feat, but that person has retired and is now flying commercially.</p><p>Still, it appears that Norman may have joined a rarified, unofficial club.</p><p>While the Navy doesn't track traps by carrier classes, as many as seven individual carrier classes have operated at the same time during the jet age, National Naval Aviation Museum historian Hill Goodspeed told Insider in an email.</p><h2>'So flexible and so adaptable'</h2><div type="image" title="Cassidy Norman Navy pilot aircraft carrier" height="1331" width="2000" msid="79682596" hostid="261"></div><p>Norman's experience has given him an unexpected front-row seat to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-us-navy-aircraft-carriers-supercarriers-to-ford-class-2020-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the evolution in aircraft carrier construction and aviation</a>.</p><p>Norman, a Texas native, was working as an engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center when he decided to pursue a career in naval aviation. He received his commission in 1993.</p><p>He qualified on the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class carrier, before receiving his first assignment to the Japan-based USS Independence, a Forrestal-class carrier commissioned in 1959.</p><p>Independence was already cruising when he flew out to join the crew. The air wing was practicing recoveries without radio communications or landing signals and he lined up too close on his first attempt at landing. He adjusted quickly.</p><p>"It was a small ship, so it was very amazing to see the choreography on the flight deck to orchestrate all the different aircraft both launching and then landing," he said.</p><div type="image" title="USS Independence aircraft carrier F-14 Tomcat" height="1498" width="1997" msid="79682601" hostid="261"></div><p>After Independence, the carriers Norman served on "generally have grown in size." In addition to Independence, he has flown from USS Kitty Hawk, USS John F. Kennedy, and USS Enterprise, each of their own namesake classes, as well as several Nimitz-class carriers.</p><p>"The great thing about the Navy is we have continued to design aircraft carriers so that they work very well, and if you're a <keyword id="502408" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Navy-pilot">Navy pilot</keyword> on one class of carrier, and you need to, say, help out another squadron temporarily, go fly out to a place where that aircraft carrier's deployed, you can pick up and you can land on that ship right away," Norman said. "You don't need any training because they all use the same basic concepts and basic skills, which is really good. That's one of the reasons our naval aviation is so flexible and so adaptable."</p><p>Ford was built to be adaptable as new technologies emerge. The noticeable absence of steam on the flight deck wasn't "a big deal," Norman said.</p><p>"It's almost like a when you first heard an electric car pull up to a stop and then take off and you didn't hear any motor," Norman said. "You're like, 'what is that?' It was a very different experience."</p><p>Gone is the "big slam" and initial jolt of acceleration from the steam catapults, Norman said.</p><p>"Electronically, it's different," he said. "It's probably a smoother acceleration but when you're used to steam, it feels like the acceleration is really strong in the end. Right before you go over the edge of the ship, it feels like a kick in the pants. It feels stronger because it's so much stronger in the end."</p><div type="image" title="Cassidy Norman Navy pilot aircraft carrier" height="1333" width="2000" msid="79682603" hostid="261"></div><p>Capt. Josh Sager, commanding officer of Carrier Air Wing 8, which is embarked on Ford, flew with Norman on Kitty Hawk. Sager, who has flown from five carrier classes, called Norman's accomplishment "really cool."</p><p>"He's a great American, and I'm proud of him for that," Sager said.</p><p>Norman is scheduled to take command of the USS John C. Stennis on December 31. Though he has deployed aboard Stennis previously, Norman has not flown from the carrier, nor is he likely to.</p><p>He will be responsible for leading it to Newport News Shipbuilding in 2021 for its midlife nuclear refueling, known as Refueling and Complex Overhaul, a process that typically takes four years.</p><p>Norman's next challenge is relaying to the Stennis' crew the importance of that shipyard period.</p><p>"You have to be an integral part of that shipyard team," Norman said. "My challenge will be making sure that I get the folks on my crew the experience they need because they won't be going out to sea on our ship."</p>

How a pilot who's landed on 6 different classes of aircraft carrier prepared to land on the Navy's newest flattop

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.relativityspace.com">Relativity Space</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of a Terran-1 rocket from Relativity Space launching from the US Air Force's Launch Complex 16 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/relativity-space" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Relativity Space</a> is a startup focused on 3D-printed rockets that was founded by former SpaceX and Blue Origin engineers</li><li>The company has secured a launch site at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/cape-canaveral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cape Canaveral</a> Air Force Station in Florida.</li><li>Called Launch Complex 16, it's a historic location where missiles and Space Race hardware were once tested.</li><li>The US Air Force awarded Relativity Space a contract for the site, saying they "were impressed" by the company's team and technologies.</li><li>Relativity Space seeks to prove that its first rocket, Terran 1, and overall approach is viable in an increasingly competitive market for launches.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.relativityspace.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Relativity Space</a>, an aerospace startup based in Los Angeles, has secured a historic home in Florida from which to launch its 3D-printed rockets. The site is right in the backyard of its biggest competitors.</p><p>The company was founded in 2015 by Jordan Noone and Tim Ellis, two young defectors from more-established SpaceX and Blue Origin (respectively). Relativity's big gamble is to use cutting-edge "Stargate" 3D-printing technology to simplify the construction of rocket parts and engines - which is typically inordinately complex - by about 100-fold.</p><p>The company believes this scheme will allow for more automation in manufacturing, decrease errors, increase reliability, speed up the pace of development, and ultimately lower the cost of access to space dramatically. Relativity's slogan is "Rockets built and flown in days instead of years."</p><p>"We believe it will be even more disruptive technology than what you've seen from other private space companies," Ellis told Business Insider. To date, Relativity has raised more than $45 million, some of it from famed investor <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/relativity-space-tim-ellis-mark-cuban-email-exchange-2018-5">Mark Cuban</a>, and brought on 60 full-time employees.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/relativity-space-3d-printed-rockets-mars-2018-10">Defectors from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Tesla are developing a remarkable technology called 'Stargate' to help colonize other planets</a></em></p><p>Relativity's first big goal is to build, test, and launch a 100-foot-tall orbital rocket that it calls Terran 1. But to prove Terran 1 works - not to mention Relativity's overall 3D-printing approach - the startup needs a place to launch the rocket.</p><p>On Thursday, Relativity announced that it has won a competitive contract from the US Air Force to retrofit and exclusively use Launch Complex 16 (or LC-16) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.relativityspace.com">Relativity Space</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of Relativity Space's plans to develop the US Air Force's Launch Complex 16 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"We're the very first venture-backed company that has won approval from the USAF for this site and only the fourth company to join the Cape," Ellis said. "This is the most elite launch facility in the world. This is where most of the history for launch has occurred."</p><p>SpaceX has the rights to Launch Complex 40, located just north of Relativity's new site, and Blue Origin is leasing Launch Complexes 11, 36A, and 36B to the south. United Launch Alliance - a daughter company of Boeing and Lockheed Martin - also leases launch complexes in Cape Canaveral.</p><p>If Relativity can successfully launch a Terran 1 rocket and send a payload to orbit within five years, it will get the chance to lease LC-16 for perhaps 20 years.</p><h2>A giant leap for Relativity Space</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.relativityspace.com/">Relativity Space</a></span></p><p class="caption">The 3D-printed Aeon rocket engine fires from a testing stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Depending on how each Terran 1 rocket is outfitted, Ellis says it could launch up to 2,750 pounds (1,250 kilograms) into close orbits around Earth for about $10 million per launch.</p><p>SpaceX's larger, more powerful, and reusable <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-block-5-2018-5">Falcon 9 rockets</a> can launch about 10 times that much payload for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-reusable-rocket-launch-costs-profits-2017-6">roughly $62 million</a> - about one-third cheaper per pound.</p><p>But Ellis says Terran 1 is just a starting point.</p><p>"We can capture several billion dollars' worth of payloads in that class," Ellis said, adding that "exciting news" may be announced this year on that front.</p><p>Relativity has already gotten a lot done since its founding in 2015. The company built a 60,000-square-foot factory and headquarters in Los Angeles and also fleshed out its Stargate 3D-printing technology. It also secured a 20-year agreement to use rocket-engine test stands at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.</p><p>Relativity is using the Mississippi site to test-fire its 3D-printed Aeon rocket engines. Ellis previously told Business Insider that so far, the engines have been tested successfully more than 100 times. Such tests are crucial, since nine of the engines will line the lower stage (or booster) of every Terran 1 rocket, and one engine will propel the upper stage (and its payload) into orbit.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.relativityspace.com/">Relativity Space</a></span></p><p class="caption">Stargate by Relativity Space is arguably the largest metal 3D printer in the world.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Although one aerospace industry analyst has expressed uncertainty about the company's long-term value, Ellis offered a few ways to counter these doubts.</p><p>He said Relativity is poised to make good on its investments by reducing complexity, simplifying supply chains, and speeding up innovation. He added that the company has has hired about a dozen senior leaders from other private space companies.</p><p>Plus, Ellis noted that competition for the LC-16 site was "fierce," since many aerospace startups in the US are looking to secure a launchpad. That makes the Air Force's sign-off significant.</p><p>"I view it as a huge vote of confidence, not only that Relativity will launch rockets to orbit, but [the USAF] vetted our team and our technology approach as viable," he said. "We're inventing new ways to do this that no one has ever seen or done before."</p><p>To that end, Thomas Eye, a director within the USAF's 45th Space Wing, said in a press release: "We were impressed with Relativity's seasoned team and its innovative approach to space technology, and we look forward to working with them as they continue the process to launch the Terran 1 vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station." </p><h2>A launch site for the ages - and the future</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons/9464613491/">NASA; Business Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">"ICBM Row" or "Missile Row" at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, as seen in 1964. Launch Complex 16, which Relativity Space plans to develop, is highlighted.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>LC-16 has a "rich history of supporting national security and human exploration," as Ellis put it.</p><p>During the 1960s, it was used to test-fire hardware for NASA's Gemini and Apollo space programs. Prior to that, the US military used it to test some of America's first intercontinental ballistic missiles - rockets designed to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-arms-deal-terminology-definitions-2018-7">fly nuclear warheads through space</a> and strike an adversary - including the Titan I and Titan II.</p><p>Ellis said the company has a lot of work to do to retrofit the site for its use, since it needs to build an assembly building, mobile erector (to set up Terran 1 rockets for launch), propellant storage tanks, and lightning protection towers.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.relativityspace.com">Relativity Space</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of a Terran-1 rocket by Relativity Space sitting on a launch pad at the US Air Force's Launch Complex 16 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>One feature the company will keep, though may not necessarily use, is a historic underground roundhouse.</p><p>"They used to literally sit in that building and control launches from several hundred feet away, which sounds crazy in today's world," Ellis said. "They were basically standing under the rocket inside a bank vault." (Modern launches are controlled from thousands of feet if not miles away.)</p><p>The company hopes to launch its first Terran 1 rocket by the end of 2020, then sign up commercial and government customers for launches thereafter.</p><p>When asked about SpaceX's recent <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-layoffs-jobs-terminated-list-california-headquarters-2019-1">10% reduction in its workforce</a>, Ellis hinted it may be helpful to Relativity Space.</p><p>"We're getting flooded with applications," he said.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-kristen-sonday-felicity-conrad-paladin-ignition-interview-2018-12">Mark Cuban talks about running for president and investing in companies that have an impact</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

A scrappy competitor to SpaceX and Blue Origin just secured a crucial and historic launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida

<p>At least 30 major historic sites in the United States are at risk of being destroyed by wildfires, floods, and rising seas that are attributable to human-induced climate change, according to <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf" target="_blank">a new report</a> released on Tuesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists.</p>
<p>Here's a map of the at-risk sites, which are located all over the country: </p>
<p> </p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Union Of Concerned Scientists</span></p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The threatened sites include the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York, NASA centers like the Johnson Space Center in Texas and Kennedy Space Center in Texas, and Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.</span></p>
<p>"The imminent risks to these sites and the artifacts they contain threaten to pull apart the quilt that tells the story of the nation's heritage and history," Adam Markham, the director of climate impacts at the union, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-climate-change-threatens-30-us-landmarks-science-advocacy-group-2014-20" target="_blank">said in a statement</a>.</p>
<p>The scientists chose to highlight these 30 sites because of their importance to American history and "because the <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> behind the risks they face is robust," according to the Union of Concerned Scientists' <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/impacts/national-landmarks-at-risk-from-climate-change.html" target="_blank">website</a>.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.storagefront.com/therentersbent/what-will-sea-level-rise-look-like-in-real-life">Nickolay Lamm/StorageFront.com</a></span></p><p class="caption">A projection of what the historic Boston Harbor will look like if sea levels rise 5 feet.</p></div><p></p></div>In some places, steps have already been taken to try and mitigate some of the damage. The 4,800 ton Cape Hatteras lighthouse in <span>North Carolina, for example, has been uprooted and moved 3,000 feet inland. Sea levels along the North Carolina coast have risen up to four times faster than the national average over the past 20 years, according to the report. The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes in the North Atlantic has doubled since 1970.</span></p>
<p>In other places, little has been done so far to protect these sites.</p>
<p>Jon Jarvis, the director of the National Park Service, is quoted in the report as saying: "I believe climate change is fundamentally the greatest threat to the integrity of our national parks that we have ever experienced."</p>
<p>According to the union, this is meant to be a call to action. While many of the impacts of climate change <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/west-antarctic-ice-sheet-collapse-means-2014-5" target="_blank">are now considered unstoppable</a>, the report's authors say that reducing carbon pollution will mitigate some effects and give us more time to deal with others.</p>
<p>"Climate change is no longer a distant threat for others to worry about," the report said. "The consequences are already under way."</p>
<p>Below is a full list of the sites (you might want to check them out before they disappear forever):</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Alaska: </strong><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=57" target="_blank">Cape Krusenstern National Monument and Kivalina</a>&amp; -- <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=57" target="_blank">Bering Land Bridge National Monument and Shishmaref</a></li>
<li><strong>California: </strong><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=51" target="_blank">Groveland</a> -- <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=54" target="_blank">César E. Chávez National Monument</a> -- <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=31" target="_blank">NASA Ames Research Center</a></li>
<li><strong>Colorado: </strong><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=46" target="_blank">Mesa Verde National Park</a></li>
<li><strong>Florida: </strong><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=40" target="_blank">Castillo de San Marcos, Fort Mose, St. Augustine's historic downtown, and the Lincolnville Historic District in St. Augustine</a> -- <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=43" target="_blank">Prehistoric shell structures at Ten Thousand Islands and Canaveral National Seashore</a> ;-- <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=31" target="_blank">NASA Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral</a></li>
<li><strong>Hawaii:&amp; </strong><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=60" target="_blank">Kaloko-Honokohau and Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Parks</a></li>
<li><strong>Louisiana:</strong> <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=31" target="_blank">NASA Michoud Assembly Facility</a></li>
<li><strong>Maryland</strong>: <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=20" target="_blank">Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument</a> --<a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=23" target="_blank">Historic Annapolis and U.S. Naval Academy </a></li>
<li><strong>Massachusetts:</strong> <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=14" target="_blank">Boston's Faneuil Hall and the Blackstone Block Historic District</a></li>
<li><strong>Mississippi:</strong> <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=31" target="_blank">NASA Stennis Space Center</a></li>
<li><strong>New Mexico: </strong><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=49" target="_blank">Bandelier National Monument and Santa Clara Pueblo</a></li>
<li><strong>New York:</strong> <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=17" target="_blank">Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island</a></li>
<li><strong>North Carolina: </strong><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=36" target="_blank">Cape Hatteras Lighthouse</a></li>
<li><strong>South Carolina</strong>: <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=38" target="_blank">Charleston's Historic District</a></li>
<li><strong>Texas: </strong><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=31" target="_blank">Johnson Space Center</a></li>
<li><strong>Virginia: </strong><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=26" target="_blank">Historic Jamestown</a> -- <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=28" target="_blank">Fort Monroe National Monument</a> -- <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/National-Landmarks-at-Risk-Full-Report.pdf#page=31" target="_blank">NASA Wallops Flight Facility and Langley Research Center</a></li>
</ul>

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