What is the NASA space launch system?

How does the space launch system work?

SLS will leave low-Earth orbit and send the Orion spacecraft, its astronaut crew, and cargo to deep space. To do this, SLS has to have enough power to perform a maneuver known as trans-lunar injection, or TLI. This maneuver accelerates the spacecraft from its orbit around Earth onto a trajectory toward the Moon.

Is the space launch system reusable?

SLS uses its power to maximize the cargo the rocket can send to the Moon. That's why SLS does not carry extra fuel or propulsion systems necessary to return any stages to Earth for reuse. The solid rocket boosters separate two minutes into the flight, and the core stage falls away around eight minutes after launch.

Who is building the Space Launch System?

Northrop Grumman manufactures the five-segment solid rocket boosters for the NASA Space Launch System (SLS). These are the largest human-rated solid rocket boosters ever built for flight.

Where is the space launch system?

Kennedy Space Center The SLS is planned to launch the Orion spacecraft as part of the Artemis program, making use of the ground operations and launch facilities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

What is NASA’s new rocket called?

Orion is NASA's new spacecraft, built to take humans farther into space than they've ever gone before. It will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew and provide a safe return to Earth.

Will NASA ever build a new shuttle?

Orion is Nasa's new spaceship for humans, designed to visit destinations such as the Moon and Mars. Here's our guide to America's replacement for the space shuttle. When astronauts return to the Moon this decade – under a Nasa plan called Artemis – they'll travel there in Orion.

Is SLS a failure?

NASA doesn't want to call it a failure, but plenty of others are. The SLS is a heavy-lift rocket similar to the Saturn V or SpaceX Falcon Heavy. In the last decade, NASA has spent over $17 billion on the SLS.

How much rocket fuel goes to the Moon?

While the amount of fuel varied, depending on the mission, on average it used a total of 4,578,000 pounds (2,076,545 kg) of fuel. It could lift a payload to low Earth orbit weighing 310,000 lb (140,000 kg), and send a payload of 107,100 lb (48,600 kg) to the Moon.