NASA Tests SLS Block 1 Cargo for Jupiter Moon Mission

摘要

NASA is midway through wind-tunnel tests of the cargo variant of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket earmarked for the Europa Clipper exploration mission and, due to new higher-fidelity testing techniques, is closer to validating the vehicle's true performance characteristics for its flight to the icy Jovian moon.Although the human-rated SLS Block 1 version of the vehicle is now in final assembly for its initial test mission, the changes to the design for the follow-on cargo version require a completely new set of aerodynamic tests. This is primarily driven by the configuration of the upper section of the Block 1 Cargo second stage, which consists of a large ogive-shaped payload compartment in place of the launch abort system and crew and service modules in the baseline crewed variant.The test milestone comes as NASA works towards the debut launch of the SLS on a flight to boost an unoccupied Orion crew capsule on a trip around the Moon. The mission, dubbed Artemis 1, which is now widely expected to slip from 2020 to 2021 (see page 48), will pave the way for the first crewed flight of the Block 1 SLS in 2022. This test, Artemis 2, will carry astronauts on the first deep-space flight since the Apollo program. After proving the operability of Orion on a flight around the Moon, the mission will pave the way for Artemis 3, a planned crewed landing close to the lunar south pole by 2024.