National Aeronautics and Space Administration

2 0 1 5 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

THE YEAR IN REVIEW www.nasa.gov

2015 Space Launch System Highlights

Collected SLS Highlights from January – December 2015

January: 1 RS-25 Engine Testing Blazes Forward for NASA’s Space Launch System • Space Launch System Booster Ready to Fire • Spaceflight Partners: Dynetics • Mini Models Fire Up for SLS Base Heating Tests • Composite Booster gets a Burst of Energy

February: 9 Welcome to SLS Boosters 101 • Eruptions Evicted: Anti-geyser Testing Completed for SLS Liquid Oxygen Tank • The State of the Programs • Spaceflight Partners: Alcoa Forgings and Extrusions • NASA Representatives Visit Louisiana to See Pegasus Progress • NASA, Orbital ATK Preparing Solid Rocket Booster Avionics for Mission Success

March: 15 NASA’s Space Launch System Booster Passes Major Ground Test • Spaceflight Partners: Moog Inc. • Fabrication Complete on SLS Core Stage Simulator Test Article • NASA Shaking Things Up for Space Launch System at Redstone Test Center • Faces of SLS • SLS is Fired Up

April: 21 NASA, Orbital ATK Tackle Tough Booster Issues before Successful Ground Test • Massive Tank for SLS Advanced Booster Concept Moves to Mississippi for Testing • Spaceflight Partners: Teledyne Brown Engineering • Cameras at SLS Booster Test will Provide Critical Data for Rocket’s First Flight • Pegasus Barge Work Continues on the Bayou • Executive Leadership Changes • EmpowHERing Women

May: 27 Space Launch System Program Moves Forward with Critical Design Review • Steamy Summer Begins for SLS with RS-25 Test • Some Assembly Required: The Newest RS-25 Joins the Space Launch System Family • Spaceflight Partners: Ultimate Hydroforming Inc. • SLS Booster Work Continues Well After Smoke Clears from Major Test • Milestone Work Under Way on B-2 Test Stand

June: 33 We have Ignition: SLS RS-25 Engine Fires Up for Two More Tests in Series • Selective Laser Melting Can Cut Time, Costs for SLS RS-25 Engine Parts • SLS Inspires at NASA on the Square • Spaceflight Partners: LNT Powdered Metal Inc. and Synertech Powdered Metal Inc. • Added Support in the Middle for SLS Booster Qualification Test

July: 39 NASA’s Space Launch System Design ‘Right on Track’ for Journey to Mars • Pedal to the Metal – RS-25 Engine Revs Up Again • Spaceflight Partners: Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Co. • Aft Segment Cast for Second SLS Booster Qualification Test • Space Camp Hall of Fame • Construction ‘Fueling’ Up for SLS Core Stage Hydrogen Tank • The Force Was With Us at San Diego Comic-Con 2015

Cover: Artist concept of SLS on launch pad (NASA/MSFC) August: 47 The Journey to Mars Continues with Final RS-25 Tests of the Series • SLS Program Manager Todd May Named Deputy Director of Marshall Center • NASA Stennis Marks Milestone in Return to Deep-Space Missions • Learn More about RS-25 • Spaceflight Partners: CRM Solutions Inc.

September: 53 The Heat Goes On as Engineers Start Analysis on SLS Base Heating Test Data • Construction Begins on Test Version of Important Connection for SLS • Twice as Nice: NASA, Orbital ATK Prepare for Second SLS Booster Ground Test • Spaceflight Partners: Cobham Mission Systems • Faces of SLS • Steel Swings for New SLS Test Stand at NASA Marshall • NASA Tests Provide Rare Opportunity to Get 3-D Printed Part Comparison Data • Go behind the scenes of building the world’s most powerful rocket with our blog, Rocketology! • Celebrating a Servant’s Heart

October: 59 NASA Completes Critical Design Review for Space Launch System • NASA Names John Honeycutt SLS Program Manager • More Than 50 Pieces of Hardware Completed for SLS Core Stage Tanks • Spaceflight Partners: Honeywell • Faces of SLS

November: 63 NASA Marks Completion of Test Version of Key SLS Propulsion System • Getting Ready to Fly • AMRO Fabricating Corp. Lining up Panels for NASA’s Space Launch System • NASA Awards Contract to Restart Development of Engines to Power Agency’s Journey to Mars • Faces of SLS • Progress Continues on Test Version of SLS Adapter • No Small Steps

December: 69 Going Up: Bolden Sees Progress on SLS Test Stand • Operation Insulation: NASA Marshall Prepares for SLS Foam Testing • Faces of SLS • NASA Marshall’s John Hanson Wins AIAA Award for Work on SLS Rocket • Be an Astronaut! • Spaceflight Partners: JBS Solutions National Aeronautics and Space Administration

JANUARY 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

RS-25 Engine Testing Blazes Forward for NASA’s Space Launch System

The new year is off to a hot start for SLS! The engine that will drive America’s next great rocket to deep space blazed through its first successful test January 9 at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The RS-25 fired up for 500 seconds on the A-1 test stand at Stennis, providing NASA engineers critical data on the engine controller unit and inlet pressure conditions. This is the first hot fire of an RS-25 engine since the end of space shuttle main engine testing in 2009. (NASA/Stennis)

(Continued on page 2)

www.nasa.gov Space Launch System Booster Ready to Fire

A full-scale version of the booster for SLS is ready to fire for a major ground test and is paving the way on NASA’s journey to Mars. The two-minute, full-duration static test — scheduled for March 11 at booster prime contractor ATK’s test facility in Promontory, Utah — is a huge milestone for the program and will qualify the booster design for high temperature conditions. This type of test typically only comes after multiple years of development and signifies major progress being made on the rocket. Once this test and a second, low-temperature test planned for early 2016 are complete, the hardware is qualified and ready for the first flight of SLS. (ATK)

RS-25 Engine Testing (cont’d)

“It was the culmination of a tremendous amount of work at early-January facility outage at the A-1 stand. The team Marshall, at Aerojet Rocketdyne and especially at Stennis thoroughly assessed the issue and decided to proceed, Space Center,” Liquid Engines Manager Steve Wofford concluding that the risk to the test engine and the chance said. “It was a great team accomplishment. I told our team of a premature engine shutdown were low. Ultimately, it that the engine ran on hydrogen, oxygen and especially required close cooperation among program, institutional on the hard work, dedication, and attention to detail from and even commercial interests to carry out the test before them.” the scheduled test stand shutdown.

The entire engine/test team faced several challenges to “It was also a good study in risk management and the refurbish the test stand, develop a new engine controller willingness to carefully assess, understand and accept a and modify and test an RS-25 for the first time since 2009. bit of elevated technical risk in order to achieve this major milestone for the engine office and SLS,” said Bill Hill, A technical issue that surfaced before the holiday break deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems threatened to push the test date beyond a planned Development.

2 Spaceflight Partners: Dynetics

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, SLS Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile Dynetics of Huntsville, Alabama.

Dynetics of Huntsville, Alabama, is supporting Boeing on work for the SLS core stage. (Dynetics)

Dynetics, an employee-owned, engineering and SLS, these structural tests executed at NASA’s manufacturing company, is supporting Boeing in the Marshall Space Flight Center will validate design and manufacture and assembly of the intertank forward analysis activities and help qualify the SLS core stage and the liquid hydrogen aft SLS structural test design for flight loads. simulators. These simulators emulate mechanical properties for structural testing of the core stage Dynetics also is working with Boeing on the intertank and liquid hydrogen tank. The intertank and development of the SLS core stage thrust vector liquid hydrogen tank are part of the SLS core stage, control exhaust gas heat exchanger. The heat which will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid exchanger will use cold gas from the exhaust of oxygen that will feed the vehicle’s RS-25 engines. the core stage auxiliary power unit to maintain an Boeing is designing, developing and manufacturing acceptable temperature range for the hydraulic fluid, the 200-foot core stage for NASA. used in the thrust vector control system.

Each of the seven simulators used in structural tests In addition, Dynetics provides engineering support for are constructed in eight segments that form 27.6 the analysis and integration of the propulsion system. foot diameter barrels. Dynetics will build two of those This includes thrust vector control performance barrels using its Research and Development and analysis, as well as design and integration support for Solutions Complexes in Huntsville, Alabama. the propulsion system. As a required step before the first flight test of the

3 Mini Models Fire Up for SLS Base Heating Tests

A 2-percent scale model of the SLS core stage RS-25 engines, in the two pictures below, and a model of the SLS without the twin boosters, right, is used for nominal, core-stage-only testing at CUBRC, Inc. in Buffalo, New York. NASA is working in close collaboration with CUBRC to test mini models of the SLS propulsion system and entire vehicle in a shock tunnel at the facility. The test series will provide data on the convective heating environments that the base of the rocket will experience upon ascent. That data will be used to verify flight hardware design environments and set specifications for the design of the rocket’s base thermal protection system. (NASA/MSFC)

4 Composite Booster gets a Burst of Energy

Turning a rocket booster case into spaghetti sounds more like magic than engineering, but a test that did just that could be an important step in the future of human space exploration.

With an eye toward possible future upgrades to NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the test involved pressurizing a booster structure made of composite materials to its breaking point to see how it compares with the metallic booster cases used currently. Using composites instead of metal structures presents the potential to improve the performance of the boosters.

In the “case burst test,” a booster case 25 feet long and 92 inches in diameter was subjected to 3,000 pounds per square inch of pressure — well beyond what would be encountered in flight conditions — to verify exactly what sort of loads the composite material could withstand.

“The test is very dramatic,” said Angie Jackman, of the SLS Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution (SPIE) office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Marshall Center manages the SLS Program for the agency. “When composites fail, it’s the glue or the resin that fails first — not the fiber that fails. There’s a big boom, and it’s all spaghetti.”

Before the test, damage was caused at multiple points on the case to study what effect it would have on how the case failed. Even so, the damaged case performed as well Standing more than two stories tall and almost 8 feet in as an intact case, demonstrating not only the composite diameter, the composite test structure was pressurized with case could withstand the rigors of space launch, in that it water until it burst. (ATK) could do so even in a damaged condition. capability, SLS will utilize more powerful boosters. NASA is preparing today for that evolution by working with The test was conducted by ATK of Promontory, Utah. ATK industry partners to test technologies that could be used made the solid rocket boosters flown on the space shuttle to develop new liquid or solid rocket boosters. and will provide the boosters for the first flights of SLS.

SLS Program Manager Todd May and SLS Boosters After the initial flights of SLS, the rocket will be upgraded Manager Alex Priskos visited ATK on Jan. 13 in from a configuration capable of delivering 70 metric tons Promontory to recognize several teams who have (77-tons) to low Earth orbit to an evolved configuration that will launch 130 metric tons (143-tons). To reach its full (Continued on page 6)

5 Composite Booster (cont’d)

The successful test demonstrated that a composite case can withstand damage and still handle the stresses of space launch. (ATK)

worked on the SLS solid rocket boosters. The boosters case burst test. The test demonstrated state-of-the-art will undergo their first preflight test this spring. May composite structural technology as part of a collaborative and Priskos met with the team who carried out booster NASA and ATK project. forward skirt structural testing, then met with the group who worked upgrades to booster insulation processing. During the test, the case failed within 1 percent of pretest estimates, validating the models for strength After presenting team members with certificates of of the composites. One hundred twelve channels of appreciation for their efforts, May and Priskos walked instrumentation provided data on the case failure. The through several booster manufacturing areas to speak rocket motor case test is part of an effort to optimize a face to face with team members on the factory floor who composite case design that may be stronger, lighter, yet are working on rocket motor manufacturing for NASA. A more affordable, than traditional steel cases. In turn, this number of ATK team members mentioned how much the would provide increased payload performance due to recognition from NASA meant to them. reduced weight inherent in composite materials.

Following the morning’s recognition effort, May, Priskos ATK leveraged 47 years of composite case winding and the NASA Spacecraft/Payload Integration and experience, its experienced workforce and a modern Evolution (SPIE) team toured an area of ATK’s facility fiber-placement tooling system to achieve success on this in Clearfield, Utah, and witnessed the rocket motor motor case.

6 7 On the Road...

The SLS Program’s Steve Creech takes questions about the rocket from participants in a Museum Alli- ance Webcast Jan. 15. (NASA/MSFC)

NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot talks The inflatable SLS and Orion were part of the Alabama Gubernatorial about SLS and other agency initiatives at the annual “Thank You Alabama” event Jan. 19 at the Crampton Bowl Multiplex in meeting of Downtown Huntsville, Inc. on Jan. 16 at the Montgomery, Alabama. (NASA/MSFC) Von Braun Center. (AL.com)

SLS on Deck:

Follow SLS on: • Museum Alliance Webcast with SLS Boosters Office • Hydrogen burn-off igniter unit testing for SLS • Booster avionics delivered to SLS System Integration Laboratory

8 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

FEBRUARY 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

Welcome to SLS Boosters 101

Have your pencils and notebooks handy because school is in session. Welcome to Boosters 101 for SLS. (Orbital ATK)

www.nasa.gov Eruptions Evicted: Anti-geyser Testing Completed for SLS Liquid Oxygen Tank

NASA and Boeing engineers finish anti-geyser testing and monitor data from those tests in a control room at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. More than 120 hours of anti- geyser testing have been completed on a full-scale, 40-foot replica of the SLS liquid oxygen tank feed system — which will be housed in the SLS core stage. (NASA/MSFC)

The State of the Programs

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Deputy Director Teresa Vanhooser, at podium, opens the SLS monthly all hands meeting Feb. 11 at Marshall’s Building 4220. Sharing updates on Exploration Systems Development, including the SLS, Orion and Grounds Systems Development and Operations programs, with Marshall team members are, from left, SLS Program Manager Todd May; NASA Exploration Systems Development Director Bill Hill; Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer; and Ground Systems Development and Operations Division Manager Mike Bolger. The Marshall Center manages the SLS Program for the agency. (NASA/MSFC)

10 Spaceflight Partners: Alcoa Forgings and Extrusions

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, SLS Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile Alcoa Forgings and Extrusions of Cleveland, Ohio.

Alcoa, a global leader in lightweight metals engineering and manufacturing, is supporting Aerojet Rocketdyne in supplying the hot gas manifold for the RS-25 engines on SLS from its forging operations in Cleveland, Ohio.

Alcoa has been working with Aerojet Rocketdyne to develop an improved hot gas manifold design with today’s advanced modeling technologies and finite element analysis. “Our collaborative engineering mindset, in partnership with Aerojet Rocketdyne, has led to a fully optimized forging design and process for these high-strength components, which help deliver the high-pressure fuel and oxygen into the combustion chamber. Alcoa is excited to be working with Aerojet Rocketdyne in manufacturing these large inconel forgings for the SLS Program,” said Dustin Bush, the Cleveland-based Forging Technology Manager for Alcoa Forgings and Extrusions. The inconel forgings will be hot forged on the 50,000- Alcoa Forgings and Extrusions of Cleveland, Ohio, is ton press, one of the world’s largest, closed-die supporting Aerojet Rocketdyne on work for the RS-25 presses since its startup in 1955. Recently enhanced, engines used on SLS missions. The forgings will be the press’ structural components weigh 8,200 tons produced on the business’s 50,000-ton, closed-die press, one of the world’s largest and equipped with the most and stand 91 feet tall, with about 56 feet above floor advanced electronic and hydraulic controls. (Alcoa) level. The press exerts the force equal to the pressure that would be exerted by the weight of a steel ingot 512,000 pounds of vacuum thrust for SLS. The hot 612 feet high, placed on end to cover a 26-foot-by- gas manifold manufactured by Alcoa is instrumental 12-foot die bed. to SLS and the RS-25 engine with its unique strength, shape and weight characteristics enabling the success The powerhead assembly is the central element of the powerhead design. of an RS-25 engine and the hot gas manifold is its “ductwork.” The hot gas manifold ties together and Alcoa is a long-standing supplier to our nation’s serves as a structural base for seven key components space endeavors. In addition to being a crucial of the powerhead assembly, the injectors, the heat supplier to the RS-25 program, Alcoa has supported exchanger coil, the high-pressure turbopumps and Aerojet Rocketdyne on the RS-68 program, as well the main combustion chamber. as provided aluminum powder to the NASA space shuttle, airfoils for the shuttle’s main engines, and The Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engine burns a high-strength precision aerospace fasteners to hold mixture of hydrogen and liquid oxygen to create the together Curiosity, the Mars rover that landed in 2012.

11 NASA Representatives Visit Louisiana to See Pegasus Progress

All hands on deck! On Feb. 5, SLS Program Manager Todd At Conrad to see Pegasus progress is, from left, Marshall Center May, left, Marshall Center Operations Director Steve Doering, Operations Director Steve Doering; Michoud Deputy Director and other agency representatives, including NASA astronaut Mike Kynard; Daniel Conrad, senior vice president with Conrad Steve Bowen, visit Conrad Industries Shipyard near Morgan Shipyard; NASA astronaut Steve Bowen; Johnny Conrad, City, Louisiana. The purpose of the visit was to thank employees president and chief executive officer of Conrad Shipyard; for their work on the Pegasus barge. Conrad has made Marshall Center Deputy Director Teresa Vanhooser; SLS modifications to the barge, which is almost completed, so that it Program Manager Todd May; and Malcolm Wood, deputy chief can carry the large core stage of the SLS. (NASA/Michoud) operating officer at Michoud. (NASA/Michoud)

NASA, Orbital ATK Preparing Solid Rocket Booster Avionics for Mission Success

An Orbital ATK technician checks the avionics control panels at Orbital ATK’s Avionics Lab in Clearfield, Utah. The avionics were delivered in early February to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where development testing will continue through the end of the year. A flight-like set of the avionics system will be part of the major qualification test coming up for the booster March 11 at Orbital ATK’s test facilities in Promontory, Utah. (Orbital ATK)

12 13 On the Road...

SLS Strategic Communications team member Shannon Raleigh talks about the rocket with attendees of the 21st annual Space Exploration Educators Conference, held Feb. 5-8 at Space Center Houston. (NASA/MSFC)

Bruce Tiller, center, deputy manager of the SLS SLS Program Manager Todd May discusses the rocket’s progress and the Boosters Office, takes questions during a Feb. 23 journey to Mars Feb. 19 at the Marshall Small Business Alliance Meeting, “Booster 101” Museum Alliance webcast. held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (NASA/MSFC) (NASA/MSFC)

SLS on Deck: Follow SLS on: • SLS at South by Southwest • RS-25 engine testing • SPIE CDR kickoff

14 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

MARCH 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

NASA’s Space Launch System Booster Passes Major Ground Test

The largest, most powerful booster ever built for spaceflight fired up successfully March 11 for a major- milestone ground test in preparation for future missions to help propel SLS and the Orion spacecraft to deep space destinations, including an asteroid and Mars.

The booster fired for two minutes, the same amount of time it will fire when it lifts the SLS off the launch pad, and produced about 3.6 million pounds of thrust. The test was conducted at the Promontory, Utah, test facility of commercial partner Orbital ATK, and is one of two tests planned to qualify the booster for flight. Once qualified, the flight booster hardware will be ready for shipment to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first SLS flight. (NASA)

www.nasa.gov Booster Passes Major Ground Test (cont’d)

(Orbital ATK)

(NASA)

16 Spaceflight Partners: Moog Inc.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, SLS Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile Moog Inc. of East Aurora, New York.

Moog provides critical control hardware for the SLS, from the core stage to the solid rocket boosters to the interim cryogenic propulsion stage.

The thrust vector control (TVC) system on the core stage includes eight electrohydraulic actuators and four TVC actuator controllers. The TVC system controls the four main RS-25 engines of SLS as it launches into space. The four engines are former space shuttle main engines that Moog’s electrohydraulic TVC systems have successfully Moog Inc. builds the thrust vector control actuator supported from development to inaugural launch controllers for the SLS core stage. (Moog Inc.) and through the fly out of the space shuttle. Delta cryogenic second stage used on the Delta IV Each of the two five-segment solid rocket family of launch vehicles. Thruster valves play a role boosters, which provide additional thrust for the in the management of the reaction control system first two minutes of flight, are equipped with four on the interim cryogenic propulsion stage. Moog’s electrohydraulic actuators for engine control. Moog electromechanical TVC system controlled the RL-10 also delivers isolation valves for the auxiliary power engine as it boosted the Orion spacecraft to the unit on each booster. correct altitude and trajectory needed to check vital systems during Orion’s first test flight in December The first two flights of SLS will contain an interim 2014. The RL-10 engine also includes isolation valves cryogenic propulsion stage based on Boeing’s for fluid management.

Fabrication Complete on SLS Core Stage Simulator Test Article

Fabrication recently was completed on the core stage simulator structural test article at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The hardware is a replica of the top of the rocket’s core stage and will be used to ensure the core stage can withstand the weight and loads of the parts of the rocket stacked on top of it. (NASA/MSFC)

17 NASA Shaking Things Up for Space Launch System at Redstone Test Center

Orbital ATK’s Gordie Russell. (NASA/MSFC)

Roger Parisa and Miranda Holton, engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, get the SLS core stage thrust vector control actuator ready for vibration testing. NASA and The Boeing Co., prime contractor SLS is Fired Up for the SLS core stage, recently teamed up for thrust vector control actuator vibration testing with the Redstone Test Center’s Dynamic Test Division on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. (NASA/MSFC)

The SLS team was at the public viewing area March 11 for Location of the thrust vector control actuator on the SLS the SLS booster qualification test in Promontory, Utah. More RS-25 engine. (NASA/MSFC) than 6,500 people came out to watch the firing and learn more about the rocket. (NASA/MSFC)

18 19 On the Road...

SLS Program Manager Todd May speaks to a packed room March 14 at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. (NASA/MSFC)

The SLS Program’s Kimberly Robinson talks about the rocket The SLS Program’s Chris Crumbly talks to participants about his and the journey to Mars on March 20 at Vanderbilt University in presentation on the rocket March 21 at TEDx in Nashville. Nashville. (NASA/MSFC) (NASA/MSFC)

SLS on Deck:

• RS-25 engine testing Follow SLS on: • Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution Office critical design review board • Dynetics advanced boosters cryotank structural tests

20 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

APRIL 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

NASA, Orbital ATK Tackle Tough Booster Issues before Successful Ground Test

After months of intense investigation into a development issue, NASA and Orbital ATK successfully test fired a five-segment booster for SLS on March 11 at Orbital ATK’s test facilities in Promontory, Utah. (Orbital ATK)

When boosters are ignited, temperatures reach more than 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit from the combustion gases, which can melt the hardware. That’s why insulation is needed for each booster segment. Once each booster segment is insulated and lined, they are filled with about 280,000 pounds of propellant and allowed to solidify. (Orbital ATK)

www.nasa.gov Massive Tank for SLS Advanced Booster Concept Moves to Mississippi for Testing

Now that’s a wide load. An 18-foot- wide, 10,000-plus-pound cryogenic tank recently traveled by road and by river from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to a Dynetics Inc. test facility in Iuka, Mississippi. NASA plans to evolve SLS to provide an unprecedented lift capability of 130 metric tons (143 tons) to enable missions even farther into our solar system. To do that, the SLS will require an advanced booster with more thrust than any existing U.S. liquid- or solid-fueled boosters. Huntsville-based Dynetics is one of four companies contracted under a NASA Research Announcement to develop technologies to improve the affordability, reliability and performance of an advanced booster for a future version of the SLS. These initiatives are examining advanced booster concepts with risk-reduction activities and hardware demonstrations. The cryogenic tank is part of that work, and it was assembled using friction-stir-welding tools at the Marshall Center. (NASA/MSFC)

Crews lower the cryogenic tank onto a barge at NASA’s dock on the Tennessee River. From there, the tank was delivered to a Dynetics test facility in Iuka, Mississippi, to verify that its structural design and manufacturing processes meet all NASA requirements. (NASA/MSFC)

22 Spaceflight Partners: Teledyne Brown Engineering

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, Space Launch System Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile Teledyne Brown Engineering of Thousand Oaks, California.

Teledyne Brown Engineering is continuing its 60-year tradition of providing innovative solutions and quality performance for our nation’s space program by serving as the prime contractor for the Launch Vehicle Stage Adaptor (LVSA) for the SLS.

The LVSA, a critical element of the SLS, will connect AUGUST 2014 the rocket’s 27.5-foot-diameter core stage and 16.4-foot-diameter interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). In addition to providing structural support for launch and separation loads, the LVSA will also protect the delicate electrical devices in the propulsion systems from the extreme conditions encountered in the challenging launch environment.

Teledyne Brown Engineering is partnering with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to use its Advanced Welding Facility for assembly of LVSA segments, applying extensive experience and capabilities in the manufacturing of high-tolerance, precision components. In April 2015, Employees of AMRO Fabricating Corporation of South El Monte, California – a supplier to Teledyne Brown Teledyne and NASA successfully completed the Engineering – work on the production of a forward panel for critical design review for the LVSA. the Launch Vehicle Stage Adaptor. (TBE)

Launching on SLS is the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Teledyne Brown’s experienced systems engineers Vehicle. The Orion vehicle is NASA’s first spacecraft conducted research and risk analysis on the LAS designed for long-duration, human-rated, deep- propulsion system as well as corresponding control space exploration. Orion will transport humans to analysis to determine vehicle trajectory and ensure interplanetary destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, vehicle stability. Teledyne is also responsible such as asteroids, the moon and eventually Mars, for performing essential technical reviews and and return them safely back to Earth. Teledyne requirements assessments for the LAS module, Brown Engineering is helping to ensure crew safety integrated system, subsystems and components. by providing support to NASA for the Launch Abort System (LAS). The LAS is a tower system, attached Teledyne also was instrumental in building one-of-a- on top of the Orion crew capsule, and is able to kind, complex parts from print for the Orion capsule, take the capsule and crew to safety in the event of a including structural elements and components failing vehicle – whether at the launch pad or during for the critical heat shield, which must withstand early ascent. temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

23 Cameras at SLS Booster Test will Provide Critical Data for Rocket’s First Flight

Marshall Center engineers Jeremy Myers, left, and Jonathan Pryor set up cameras on the test stand at Orbital ATK’s facilities in Promontory, Utah, ahead of the successful March 11 SLS booster ground test. Data from the camera footage will be used to determine the camera settings for the first flight of SLS. (NASA/MSFC)

A screenshot of the cameras cycling through different settings during the two-minute booster firing. (NASA/MSFC)

Pegasus Barge Work Continues on the Bayou

Crews at Conrad Shipyard in Morgan City, Louisiana, complete a 250-foot-long metal canopy for NASA’s Pegasus barge. The vessel will be used to transport the massive SLS core stage. The final On Feb. 5, SLS Program Manager Todd May, left, Marshall modifications, Center Operations Director Steve Doering, and other agency testing, closeout representatives, including NASA astronaut Steve Bowen, visit and delivery of Conrad Industries Shipyard near Morgan City, Louisiana. The Pegasus are purpose of the visit was to thank employees for their work on scheduled for the Pegasus barge. Conrad has made modifications to the completion this barge, which is near completion, it will carry the large core summer. stage of the SLS. (NASA/Michoud) (NASA/Michoud)

24 Executive Leadership Changes

With announcement of the retirement of Tony Lavoie, who is currently serving as manager of the SLS Stages Office, the following executive leadership changes are effective immediately:

• Steve Doering is reassigned from the position of director of the Marshall Center’s Office of Center Operations to manager of the SLS Stages Office. • Roy Malone is reassigned from the position of director of the Michoud Assembly Facility to Steve Doering director of Marshall’s Office of Center Operations. (NASA/MSFC) • Bobby Watkins is reassigned from the position of director of the Marshall Center’s Office of Strategic Analysis and Communications to director of the Michoud Assembly Facility.

As manager of the SLS Stages Office, Doering will be responsible for overseeing the design and development of the 200-foot core stage, the structural backbone of the SLS. He has served in executive positions of increasing scope and responsibility and possesses extensive experience in program and project management, resources management, and strategic alignment in support of NASA’s human spaceflight endeavors, including the Space Shuttle, ISS and Constellation programs.

Assuming responsibility as director of the Center Operations Office, Malone will be responsible Roy Malone for the organization that provides comprehensive, integrated and customer-driven institutional (NASA/MSFC) services to enable the center and agency to achieve mission success. These activities encompass a broad range of diverse products and services including the design, operation and maintenance of the total facility. Malone possesses extensive experience in strategic planning, technical and institutional expertise, program and project support, systems engineering, and safety and quality engineering.

As Michoud director, Watkins will manage one of the world’s largest and most unique multi- tenant manufacturing sites providing vital support to NASA exploration and discovery missions, including the SLS and Orion spacecraft. Throughout his 29-year career, Watkins has served in multiple executive positions at the Marshall Center and Johnson Space Center. Bobby Watkins Immediately prior to his new position, he served on a detail assignment as director of the (NASA/MSFC) Legislative Liaison Division at NASA Headquarters.

EmpowHERing Women

Taking part in the “Cool Careers in STEM” panel April 25 at the Powherful Summit at Dillard University in New Orleans are, from left, moderator Soledad O’Brien; Tashika Charles, program manager for Chevron’s Upstream Workflow Transformation Reservoir Management; Renee Horton, SLS lead metallic and weld engineer at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans; and Virginia Cook Tickles, a cost analysis engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The summit, which drew 225 participants, is focused on education, professional and personal development of the next generation of women. (NASA/Michoud)

25 On the Road...

SLS’s David Hitt talks about the rocket The inflatable SLS on display April 9 during Some 90 sixth-grade students at Horizon April 29 with students at Sacred Heart Alabama Aerospace Week in Montgomery. Elementary School in Madison, Alabama, School in Cullman, Alabama. (NASA/ (NASA/MSFC) get schooled on the rocket and the journey MSFC) to Mars from SLS’s Twila Schneider. (NASA/MSFC)

SLS’s Kirk Pierce, left foreground, talks SLS engineer Markeeva Morgan speaks to SLS Strategic Communications Manager about the journey to Mars on April 15 with NASA Student Launch participants April 8 Kimberly Robinson talks to participants of students from Lewis Palmer High School at the Marshall Space Flight Center. the 2015 NASA Human Exploration Rover of Monument, Colorado. The students (NASA/MSFC) Challenge on April 18 at the event’s awards were visiting the NASA booth at the ceremony, held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Center. “NASA has committed to leading Colorado. (NASA/MSFC) the international effort to extend human presence into our solar system,” Robinson said. (NASA/MSFC)

SLS on Deck:

Follow SLS on: • SLS Program critical design review kick off • RS-25 engine testing • NASA Day in Baton Rouge

26 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

MAY 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

Space Launch System Program Moves Forward with Critical Design Review

The SLS Program kicked off its critical design review May 11 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Milestone reviews like the critical design review are just that – critical. The critical design review demonstrates that the SLS design meets all system requirements with acceptable risk, and accomplishes that within cost and schedule constraints. It also affirms that the rocket should continue with full-scale production, assembly, integration, and testing. The next major review for SLS will be design certification. (NASA/MSFC)

www.nasa.gov Steamy Summer Begins for SLS with RS-25 Test

A billowing plume of steam signals a successful, 450-second test of the RS- 25 rocket engine May 28 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The hotfire test was conducted on the historic A-1 test stand, where Apollo Program rocket stages and Space Shuttle Program main engines also were tested. RS-25 engines tested on the stand will power the core stage of the SLS. RS-25 testing is set to continue through the summer. (NASA/Stennis)

Some Assembly Required: The Newest RS-25 Joins the Space Launch System Family

SLS has a new addition to the family with the completed assembly of RS-25 Engine 2063. Engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne completed assembly of RS-25 Engine 2063 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center after approximately three months of work. The new engine becomes the 16th assembled RS-25 flight engine in inventory for SLS flights. It will be one of four RS-25s used to power Exploration Mission 2, the second SLS launch targeted for the 2021 time frame. Testing of these four engines will begin later this year as work accelerates on NASA’s newest launch vehicle. (Aerojet Rocketdyne)

28 Spaceflight Partners: Ultimate Hydroforming Inc.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, Space Launch System Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile Ultimate Hydroforming Inc. of Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Ultimate Hydroforming Inc. of Sterling Heights, Michigan, is one of the many industry partners helping build SLS. (Ultimate Hydroforming Inc.)

Ultimate Hydroforming Inc. (UHI) is a privately held, With a host of process and special process woman-owned, metal-forming and assembly business capabilities, UHI can perform most of the critical working with Boeing on SLS. UHI manufactures the manufacturing in one of six buildings on its campus systems tunnel outer skins, along with other elements in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The UHI forming tool of the core stage. The systems tunnel runs the length design, simulation, tool build and tryout are of the rocket and contains all the critical wiring, fuel supported with state-of-the-art software platforms. lines and more that allow each stage to communicate. UHI has been an SLS partner with Boeing for The outer skin is a series of stamped aluminum two years. panels that shingle over each other to provide a protective covering.

29 SLS Booster Work Continues Well After Smoke Clears from Major Test

Orbital ATK technicians detach the center forward segment from the forward segment of NASA’s five-segment booster that fired up for testing March 11 at Orbital ATK’s test facility in Promontory, Utah. The two-minute static test was the first of two ground tests to support qualification of the boosters that will help launch the first flight of SLS. Disassembly and inspection of the booster is ongoing, but preliminary analysis of the test data shows all test objectives were successfully completed during the hot fire. The second qualification test is planned for early 2016. Once qualified, flight booster hardware will undergo final manufacturing and preparation for shipment to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the rocket’s first unmanned flight. (Orbital ATK)

Milestone Work Under Way on B-2 Test Stand

NASA began work May 13 on a major milestone in its preparation for testing the core stage of SLS, beginning lifts of large structural steel sections onto the B-2 Test Stand at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The B-2 stand is being modified to test the SLS core stage prior to its first mission flight. (NASA/Stennis)

30 31 On the Road...

More than 18,000 visitors came by the SLS booth May 20-23 at Destination Imagination Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee. (NASA/MSFC)

On May 15, NASA representatives visited Futuramic Tool and Engineering in Detroit. The company is one of many industry partners helping build SLS and Orion. (NASA/MSFC)

The inflatable SLS is on display May 14 at the Capitol Building in Baton Rouge for NASA Louisiana Aerospace Day. (NASA/MSFC)

SLS on Deck:

Follow SLS on: • RS-25 engine testing • Forward segment cast for second booster test • NASA Day on the Square

32 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

JUNE 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

We have Ignition: SLS RS-25 Engine Fires Up for Two More Tests in Series

SLS on Deck:

• RS-25 engine testing • Forward segment cast for second booster test The RS-25 engine fires up at the beginning of a 500-second test June 11 at RS-25 completed its longest test yet of the NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. This is the third series June 25. This is the fourth firing of the • NASA Day on the Square firing of an RS-25 development engine on the A-1 test stand at Stennis. RS-25. (NASA/Stennis) (NASA/Stennis)

www.nasa.gov Selective Laser Melting Can Cut Time, Costs for SLS RS-25 Engine Parts

Andy Hardin, a subsystems manager in the Liquid Engines Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, inspects a 3-D printed rocket part made with a selective- laser-melting machine in the Advanced Manufacturing Lab. Selective laser melting, a 3-D printing process, is being used to make some of the parts more efficiently and affordably — without compromising performance and safety — for the Marshall Center engineers Jim Lydon, left, and Zach RS-25 engine and other Jones work on a recently 3-D printed rocket part. components of SLS. (NASA/MSFC) (NASA/MSFC)

SLS Inspires at NASA on the Square

SLS was part of the second-annual NASA on the Square June 20 in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where the SLS Program is managed for the agency. Hundreds of visitors came out to Huntsville’s historic courthouse square to learn more about space exploration, SLS, Orion and the agency’s Journey to Mars. (All photos NASA/MSFC)

34 Spaceflight Partners: LNT Powdered Metal Inc. and Synertech Powdered Metal Inc.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, Space Launch System Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile LNT Powdered Metal Inc. and Synertech Powdered Metal Inc., both of Garden Grove, California.

Synertech Powdered Metal Inc. is working with engines prime contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne and LNT Powdered Metal Inc. on creating manufacturing processes that can reduce costs for the RS-25 engine. (Synertech)

LNT Powdered Metal Inc. — through a joint venture the traditional cast and wrought route. with Synertech Powdered Metal Inc. — is an international leader in the development and This technology allows complex-shaped components, manufacturing of powdered-metal products through once fully machined from forged billets, to be Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP). Powdered metal fabricated without complex machining, welding or is placed into a mold that is subjected to high casting while retaining mechanical properties equal to temperature and pressure which results in a precise or exceeding the conventional forged and machined shaped part with excellent properties. product. This ultimately results in a lower-cost, higher- reliability product. Leveraging a long-term teaming arrangement with Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California, LNT Aerojet Rocketdyne, LNT and Synertech, building on and Synertech are working to lower the cost of future technology tested by NASA and the U.S. Air Force, RS-25 engines. These engines power the SLS core are developing Selectively Net Shape turbo machinery stage. LNT and Synertech’s Selectively Net Shape and valve components for RS-25. This effort is part Hot Isostatic Pressing process allows the manufacture of the ongoing work to create the largest rocket ever of large-sized, critically loaded components from built that is sustainable and affordable. advanced powder alloys that are not available through

35 Added Support in the Middle for SLS Booster Qualification Test

The ground test of the five-segment booster qualification or telephone almost daily. Their communication and motor, QM-1, for SLS was a huge success. In part, it was commitment to maintain focus allowed the team to react a success because NASA and Orbital ATK got the support in real time to engineering and fabrication concerns. Each where needed — literally. Increasing the length from a vendor had a dedicated person responsible for overseeing shuttle-era, four-segment motor to five segment for SLS Orbital ATK’s tool and staying on schedule. required a mid-span support to decrease the sag in the motor. The five-segment development test motors each Major Tool & Machine fabricated the metal structures of the used one mid-span support to decrease motor sag. QM-1 mid-span support for the QM-1 static test motor. These used two mid-span supports to further decrease motor structures include two uprights bolted to the bay floor sag — more closely simulating a vertical flight motor. and a massive structure that spans the width of the static test motor and supports the weight taken up by the slings When Orbital ATK determined the need for a second mid- during build-up and testing. span support, they contracted with the same vendors that fabricated the first support. These long-standing partners “These three suppliers have a long-standing history with had the proven expertise that provided some clear Orbital ATK and have once again demonstrated their benefits in fabricating a duplicate tool, including reduced value as a deserving partner. We appreciate their ability to cost and improved fabrication timeline. perform as necessary,” said Fred Brasfield, vice president of Orbital ATK NASA Programs. “These vendors have The three major vendors for mid-span support include supplied the components and structures needed to help us Major Tool & Machine of Indiana; Force Measurement acquire necessary data from our test motors.” Systems (FMS) of California; and Specialized Analysis Engineering (SAE) of Logan, Utah. All three vendors Because of industry partners like these, the SLS booster maintained an open line of communication with Orbital is being built affordably and efficiently, and will incorporate ATK tooling engineers and communicated via e-mail new and innovative processes and materials.

Industry partners Major Tool & Machine; Force Measurement Systems; and Specialized Analysis Engineering were an integral part of the success of the March 11 SLS booster qualification test. (Orbital ATK/Spaceflight Insider)

36 37 On the Road...

SLS Program Manager Todd May talks about the rocket and SLS engineer Kathryn Crowe talks about the rocket and NASA’s the Journey to Mars at the Huntsville Association of Technology Journey to Mars on June 23 with more than 30 students via Societies annual “Professionals of the Year” awards on June 18 webchat from the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. at The Westin Hotel in Huntsville, Alabama. (NASA/MSFC) (NASA/MSFC)

A future explorer draws the SLS at “Take Our Children to Work Day” on June 18 at the Marshall Center. (NASA/MSFC)

SLS on Deck:

Follow SLS on: • SLS critical design review board • EM-1 Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage production starts • RS-25 engine testing continues at Stennis

38 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

JULY 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

NASA’s Space Launch System Design ‘Right on Track’ for Journey to Mars

NASA’s Space Launch System Program Manager Todd May and others on the critical design review team pore over hundreds of design and development documents on the initial 70-metric-ton (77-ton) configuration referred to as SLS Block 1. In late July, the SLS Program completed its critical design review — a first in almost 40 years for a NASA exploration class vehicle. SLS Program managers will present the results from the critical design review board and Standing Review Board to Marshall’s Center Management Council. After receiving the council’s concurrence, the results then will be briefed to the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Read the full story on the critical design review. (NASA/MSFC) (continued on page 40)

www.nasa.gov ‘Right on Track’ (cont’d)

The critical design review team, including members of the Standing Review Board, Artist concept of the SLS Block 1 configuration. listen to presentations during the SLS critical design review. (NASA/MSFC) (NASA/MSFC)

Pedal to the Metal – RS-25 Engine Revs Up Again

In auto racing parlance, NASA engineers put the “pedal to the metal” during a July 17 test of the RS-25 rocket engine at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. During a 535-second test, operators ran the RS-25 through a series of power levels, including a period of firing at 109 percent of the engine’s rated power. Data collected on performance of the engine at the various power levels will aid in adapting the former space shuttle engines to the new SLS vehicle mission requirements, including development of an all-new engine controller and software. Two additional tests of the RS-25 engine are planned before the current test series concludes by early September, and a new test series begins on four engines for a future flight. Check out all the colors the RS-25 creates when it fires up. (NASA/Stennis)

40 Spaceflight Partners: Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Co. EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, Space Launch System Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Co. of Simsbury, Connecticut.

Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Co. (EBA&D), Flexible Confined headquartered in Simsbury, Connecticut, is a global Detonating Cord provider of highly engineered solutions that combine Assemblies undergo pyrotechnics materials, mechanisms, structural members risk-reduction testing at Ensign-Bickford Aerospace and control electronics for several of the nation’s most & Defense Co. critical assets. Its products are used on satellites, launch (Ensign-Bickford) vehicles, human space, strategic and tactical missiles, and soldier and Special Forces platforms. System that terminates thrust and distributes booster propellant in the event of an anomaly. FCDCAs will also Recently, EBA&D performed tests on various replace the heritage shuttle devices on the Separation components that will be used for SLS as part of a risk- System after the second SLS flight. FCDCAs are the reduction effort for future flights. industry standard and serve the same purpose as the heritage CDFAs and CDFMs which were unique to the EBA&D helps in furthering spaceflight by manufacturing Shuttle design. and testing Confined Detonating Fuse Manifolds (CDFMs) and Confined Detonating Fuse Assemblies (CDFAs) that The new pyrotechnic devices are lighter and more will be used on the first flight of SLS. These items are cost effective than the heritage shuttle devices. Due to heritage shuttle pyrotechnic devices used by the SLS environmental exposure, the fuse encased in FCDCA Separation System to transfer signals and initiate events can develop fatigue cracks. EBA&D conducted risk- that simultaneously separate both boosters from the core reduction testing, and it was verified that no significant stage. fatigue cracking was caused by the SLS mission environments, and the FCDCAs would function properly As a first step in verifying the hardware was suitable after exposure. for the SLS boosters, EBA&D conducted risk-reduction testing — subjecting them to thermal, vibration and “Orbital ATK has enjoyed a working relationship shock environments prior to functioning. with EBA&D for more than 20 years, and we greatly appreciate the hard work and dedication they exhibit,” In order to ensure reliability aboard the SLS, each facet of said Fred Brasfield, Orbital ATK’s vice president of NASA the rocket must be subjected to intense testing. To verify Operations. “They perform crucial functions and the how different parts function under the different stresses design, qualification, fabrication and testing ensures and pressures associated with launch and flight, EBA&D the products we use for SLS are of the highest quality simulates the worst-case environments and conducts possible. tests to ensure the performance of various parts. This risk-reduction effort and testing were the first steps “As the provider of the ordnance signal transfer system toward ensuring that heritage shuttle devices would work for our Flight Termination System, EBA&D is a vital properly under the stresses that will be part of a SLS partner and team member to Orbital ATK,” Brasfield flight. added. “Qualification of our Flight Termination System is key to overall certification of the SLS booster. EBA&D EBA&D also performed a related test on the Flexible has a proven track record for providing on-time delivery Confined Detonating Cord Assemblies (FCDCAs), which of highly reliable, cost-effective ordnance products to are currently used on the SLS booster Flight Termination the launch industry.”

41 Aft Segment Cast for Second SLS Booster Qualification Test

Artist concept of the different parts of the SLS booster. (NASA/ MSFC)

The aft segment for a full-scale version of a five-segment solid ocketr booster for SLS has been cast at Orbital ATK’s facility in Promontory, Utah. The aft segment will eventually be integrated with the other four booster segments for a second booster qualification test, scheduled for 2016. The first SLS qualification test for the booster was successfully completed March 11 at Orbital ATK. The second test will support qualification by specifically assessing performance at the coolerend of the motor’s accepted propellant temperature range. After qualification is complete, the boosters will then be ready to proceed toward the first flight of SLS. Orbital ATK is the prime contractor for the boosters. Learn more about the boosters. (Orbital ATK)

Space Camp Hall of Fame

SLS Program Manager Todd May speaks to attendees at the Space Camp Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on July 25 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (USSRC)

42 Construction ‘Fueling’ Up for SLS Core Stage Hydrogen Tank

A Boeing weld technician inspects a recent weld on the Gore Weld Tool at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The Gore Weld Tool is used to perform vertical conventional friction- stir welds in the production of gore assemblies for NASA’s Space Launch System core stage hydrogen fuel tank — currently under construction at Michoud. All of the hardware necessary for building the tank that will be used on the first flight of SLS has been delivered to the facility and is awaiting assembly. Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, including avionics. (Boeing)

Gore panels, provided to Boeing by supplier MT Aerospace of Germany, are stacked and ready for welding on the Gore Weld Tool at Michoud. Gore panels are aluminum alloy dome segments. They are welded together to form a dome — the Boeing technicians use cranes and specially designed lift end cap to the fixtures to move a dome cap onto the Circumferential Dome SLS core stage Weld Tool for welding to the dome and a ring, forming a hydrogen fuel completed end cap for the SLS core stage hydrogen fuel tank. (Boeing) tank. (Boeing)

43 The Force Was With Us at San Diego Comic-Con 2015

SLS was part of sharing NASA's Journey to Mars July 8-12 at San Diego Comic-Con 2015, which drew more than 150,000 people daily. SLS Program Manager Todd May also participated in a panel on that ambitious journey with Aditya Sood, executive producer of the upcoming film "The Martian"; Jim Green, director of planetary sciences at NASA; NASA astronaut Victor Glover; and Andy Weir, author of "The Martian."

"There are thousands of people in 46 states around this country working on this, and we're getting this rocket ready," May said. (All photos NASA/MSFC)

44 45 On the Road...

NASA was in New Orleans July 1-5 for NASA Week, a celebration of space exploration in conjunction with the annual Essence Festival. (NASA/Stennis)

SLS propulsion engineer Kathryn Crowe, center, talks rockets during the “Rocket Women” panel July 25 at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. (NASA/MSFC)

SLS on Deck:

Follow SLS on: • Pegasus barge modifications complete • Last SLS core stage flight dome delivered to Michoud • RS-25 NASA Social

46 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

AUGUST 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

The Journey to Mars Continues with Final RS-25 Tests of the Series

Media and social media followers had the opportunity to tour NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and see the powerful RS-25 engine fire up for testing Aug. 13. NASA Social participants were updated on progress from NASA and prime contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne representatives, including surprise guest, NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman. SLS on Deck: Guests also got a first-hand look at the newly renovated • Pegasus barge modifications complete Pegasus barge, which will • Last SLS core stage flight dome delivered to Michoud transport the SLS core stage. • RS-25 NASA Social (NASA/MAF)

(continued on page 48)

www.nasa.gov Final RS-25 Tests of the Series (cont’d)

On Aug. 27, NASA concluded the series with a seventh RS-25 hot-fire test on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis. The test ran for a full-duration 535 seconds. “The completion of this test series is an important step in getting SLS ready for the journey to Mars,” said Steve Wofford, engines manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (NASA/MAF) (NASA/MSFC) (NASA/MSFC) “The RS-25 engine gives SLS a proven, high performance, affordable main propulsion system. It is one of the most experienced large rocket engines in the world, with more than a million seconds of ground test and flight operations time.” (NASA/MAF) (NASA/MAF)

(NASA/Stennis)

48 SLS Program Manager Todd May Named Deputy Director of Marshall Center

SLS Program Manager Todd May has been appointed deputy director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. May succeeds Teresa Vanhooser, who has been Marshall’s deputy director since November 2012 and is retiring after a 35-year NASA career. (NASA/MSFC)

NASA Stennis Marks Milestone in Return to Deep-Space Missions

NASA moved 100 feet closer to its return to deep-space missions in August with the completion of a steel tower for tests of SLS. Engineers completed the addition of about 1 million pounds of structural steel work on the SLS core stage test frame on the B-2 Test Stand at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. (NASA/Stennis)

49 Learn More about RS-25

What is the RS-25 Engine? (NASA/MSFC)

The How & Why of RS-25 Testing (NASA/MSFC)

50 Spaceflight Partners: CRM Solutions Inc.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, Space Launch System Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile CRM Solutions Inc. of Huntsville, Alabama.

Headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, CRM Solutions Inc. is a small business providing engineering services since 1997 in support of NASA and Department of Defense launch vehicles. CRM began with a group of subject-matter experts in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), all with strong backgrounds in commercial CFD- code development. CFD uses mathematics, physics and computational software to predict how a gas or liquid flows, as well as how the gas or liquid affects objects as it flows past them.

In the years since its inception, company expertise has evolved to encompass almost all technical areas required for launch vehicle engineering analysis. CRM helped pioneer computational studies for multiple, moving-body problems such as stage and separation events.

For NASA’s Space Launch System, CRM has recently partnered with Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville, providing and leading a systems analysis team for the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (LVSA). Current contributions span a large technical spectrum, including simulation of the shared-volume environment between the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) and the LVSA from roll-out through core stage separation. The shared-volume environment is the space the LVSA shares with the ICPS.

CRM also models internal pressures during ascent to provide a map of the differences in skin pressure along the primary structure. CFD models have been created Some of the equipment CRM Solutions Inc. uses for simulations, analysis and other work for SLS. to determine how hazardous gasses are distributed (CRM Solutions Inc.) within the interior of the structure, to ensure that mixture flammability is not a possibility. The team additionally Finally, in addition to creating a coupled loads model, provides external thermal analysis for LVSA in all phases the team assists in structural and stress analysis of of flight, and also performs vibration and acoustic the primary and secondary structures. These types analysis and internal acoustic predictions. Finally, CRM of modeling and analyses are critical to ensuring the performs debris impact analysis to assess and mitigate structural integrity and performance of the SLS launch structural damage. vehicle stage adapter.

51 On the Road...

SLS talks rockets with Space Camp Elite Academy attendees Aug. 4 at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. (NASA/MSFC)

SLS was part of “NASA Lands at the Exploreum” on Aug. 8 at the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center in Mobile, Alabama. (NASA/MSFC)

SLS on Deck:

Follow SLS on: • Seattle vendor visit • SLS base heating testing concludes • Welding under way on Launch Vehicle Spacecraft Adapter (LVSA)

52 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

SEPTEMBER 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

The Heat Goes On as Engineers Start Analysis on SLS Base Heating Test Data

Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center have successfully completed base heating testing on 2-percent scale models of the Space Launch System propulsion system. SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid placed in lunar orbit and ultimately to Mars. The SLS propulsion system uses two five-segment solid rocket boosters and four core stage RS-25 engines that burn liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Sixty-five hot-fire tests using the mini models provided data on the convective heating environments that the base of the rocket will experience during ascent. Engineers have many months ahead analyzing the data, which will be used to verify flight hardware design environments and set specifications for the design of the thermal protection system for the base of the rocket. The thermal protection system at the base of the vehicle keeps major hardware, wiring and the crew safe from the extreme heat created by the boosters and engines while burning on ascent. The models were designed, built and tested by Marshall engineers, in close collaboration with CUBRC Inc. of Buffalo, New York. (CUBRC Inc.)

www.nasa.gov Construction Begins on Test Version of Important Connection for SLS

Welding is underway on major panels of a test version of the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter, or LVSA, which connects the SLS core stage to the upper stage. “We are starting to see the test version of the LVSA take shape,” said Brent Gaddes, adapter manager for SLS. “This is a unique structure, which presents some challenges due to its large size and conical shape. However, we have a very capable team, both with Marshall and Teledyne Brown, and are building on our experience with the stage adapter that was used on Orion’s first test flight in 2014.” (NASA/MSFC)

Twice as Nice: NASA, Orbital ATK Prepare for Second SLS Booster Ground Test

The avionics subsystem and hardware is checked out at one of An Orbital ATK employee installs insulation to the rear segment Orbital ATK’s test facilities before a successful Sept. 22 off- for the second booster qualification test. (Orbital ATK) motor hot-fire test. The hot-fire test simulated the test cycle that will be used during the second booster qualification test, which closely resembles real flight conditions. (Orbital ATK)

54 Spaceflight Partners: Cobham Mission Systems

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, Space Launch System Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile Cobham Mission Systems of Orchard Park, New York.

Cobham Mission Systems of Orchard Park, New York, has been a supplier to NASA space systems since America’s first manned space program. Today, Cobham provides a family of 10 different check valves to Boeing for the Space Launch System. A majority of the check valves are designed for gaseous helium, oxygen, and hydrogen under high-flow, low-pressure drop, extreme environmental conditions. The valves help to ensure safe cryogenic use for the core stage of the rocket.

The Cobham Mission Systems space business began by providing John Glenn’s Project Mercury breathing regulator, and continues today with valves being developed for the Orion spacecraft, the European Service Module and SLS. Recently, they designed and produced several complex valves and quick disconnects for the Boeing Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) that delivers nitrogen and oxygen to the International Space Station. Cobham was founded by Sir Alan Cobham in 1934 and has grown to employ more than 12,000 people worldwide. Cobham check valves used on the SLS systems. (Cobham)

Faces of SLS

(NASA/MSFC)

55 Steel Swings for New SLS Test Stand at NASA Marshall

A crane positions steel pieces for the twin towers of a 215-foot-tall structural test stand for SLS at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. When completed, hydraulic cylinders at Test Stand 4693 will push, pull and bend the liquid hydrogen tank of the SLS’s massive core stage to subject the tank and hardware to the same loads and stresses they will endure during launch. During the tests, engineers will also apply pressure loads to the tank, which will be partially filled with inert nitrogen rather than combustive liquid hydrogen. Test Stand 4693 is being built in Marshall’s West Test Area on the foundation of the stand where the Apollo Saturn V F-1 engine was tested during the 1960s. (NASA/MSFC)

NASA Tests Provide Rare Opportunity to Get 3-D Printed Part Comparison Data

A key part of the F-1 engine — the rocket engine that propelled the Saturn V and sent men to the moon — just completed a series of tests that will provide new data for today’s rocket engine designers. While this rocket engine component is not currently being flown, engineers were able to test a 1960s-era rocket engine part, the gas generator, in 2013, and then make one with additive manufacturing and test it on the same stand — giving NASA engineers a direct one-to-one comparison of a key rocket component.

The results from these tests of a 3-D printed F-1 gas generator adds more information to help NASA and the aerospace industry reduce the risks associated with using 3-D printing to make future engine parts, especially for future versions of spacecraft, like SLS. (NASA)

Go behind the scenes of building the world’s most powerful rocket with our blog, Rocketology! https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/

56 Celebrating a Servant’s Heart

Members of the SLS Program team are all smiles Sept. 17 at NASA physicist Trent Griffin’s “Good Morning America” surprise at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Griffin was featured as a hometown hero on the ABC television program for his community service efforts. (NASA/MSFC)

Trent Griffin, right, is congratulated by Marshall Center Director Patrick Scheuermann for his work in the community and his outreach efforts to encourage students to enter the science, technology, engineering and math fields. (NASA/MSFC)

57 On the Road in Seattle...

NASA, SLS and SLS prime contractor Chris Crumbly, manager of the SLS Seattle Seahawks fans got a chance to Boeing were in Seattle on Sept. 22-27 to Program’s Spacecraft/Payload learn more about SLS before the team’s talk about America’s next great rocket and Integration and Evolution Office, shares Sept. 27 home-game opener. NASA’s Journey to Mars with students at his thoughts on the journey to Mars with (NASA/MSFC) area schools, and visitors at The Museum Raisbeck Aviation High School students of Flight. The museum hosted NASA Sept. 22 at the Museum of Flight in “Journey to Mars” exhibits throughout Seattle. (NASA/MSFC) the week. (NASA/MSFC)

A flag that was flown in space is Mars or bust! SLS’s Sharon Cobb, left, Seeing double! NASA astronaut Jeanette presented Sept. 25 to Seattle Seahawks and Chris Crumbly, third from left, were Epps herself a twin talks to twin sisters coach Pete Carroll, second from left, part of a panel about the journey to the about space at the “Journey to Mars” during NASA’s visit to the city. Red Planet on Sept. 26 at The Museum of exhibits, hosted by The Museum of (NASA/MSFC) Flight. (NASA/MSFC) Flight. (NASA/MSFC) SLS on Deck:

Follow SLS on: • SLS Critical Design Review completion • Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage structural test article completion • Multiple SLS vendor visits

58 For more SLS news, updates and resources, visit www.nasa.gov/sls National Aeronautics and Space Administration

OCTOBER 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

NASA Completes Critical Design Review for Space Launch System

For the first time in almost 40 years, a NASA human-rated rocket has completed all steps needed to clear a critical design review (CDR). SLS is the first vehicle designed to meet the challenges of the journey to Mars and the first exploration class rocket since the Saturn V. Also as part of the CDR, the program concluded that the design is mature enough to update the early renderings of the vehicle to more accurately reflect that the core stage of the rocket and Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter will remain orange, the natural color of the insulation that will cover those elements, instead of being painted white. The addition of color on the solid rocket boosters gives a new look to NASA’s first 21st-century launch vehicle and indicates the upward momentum of the rocket. (NASA)

For more SLS news, updates and resources, visit www.nasa.gov/sls www.nasa.gov NASA Names John Honeycutt SLS Program Manager

NASA has named John Honeycutt manager for the SLS Program. He succeeds the program’s first manager, Todd May, who was recently named deputy director of Marshall Space Flight Center, where SLS is based. (NASA/MSFC)

More Than 50 Pieces of Hardware Completed for SLS Core Stage Tanks

Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have completed more than 50 pieces of flight and qualification hardware for the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks for SLS. The qualification hardware will be used to make test versions of the tanks. When completed, the test version tanks will be shipped aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for structural loads testing on new stands currently being built. The flight hardware will be used on the maiden flight of SLS, called Exploration Mission-1. (NASA/MAF)

60 Spaceflight Partners: Honeywell EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, Space Launch System Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile Honeywell of Clearwater, Florida.

Honeywell’s RS-25 Engine Controller Development Team in Clearwater, Florida, has been hard at work alongside NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne on the build and integration of RS-25 engineering model engine controllers.

When the SLS rocket launches off the pad on future missions, each of its four RS-25 booster engines will be equipped with an engine controller — an integrated set of computers that monitors The Honeywell team is developing four engineering model engine performance and controls all engine functions. Each controllers for RS-25 testing at Stennis. (Honeywell) controller will continuously check its main engine system against performance requirements, perform for the RS-25 to power the core stage of the SLS to low- engine health sensor acquisition and transmission, Earth orbit and beyond. and provide fault detection and response capability. Over the past 12 months, Honeywell has already shipped Utilizing these same RS-25 engines, Honeywell four engineering model engine controllers for testing at supplied the main engine controllers for all NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, 135 space shuttle launches. Honeywell is now with the fifth and final engineering model scheduled for developing a second-generation controller design delivery in December 2015.

Faces of SLS

(NASA/MSFC)

61 On the Road...

SLS visited vendor Moog Inc. where On Oct. 20, representatives from NASA, On Oct. 21, NASA’s Chris Bramon talks former NASA astronauts Don Thomas, including astronaut Mike Hopkins, and to 400 Wheelift employees and local right, and Kent Rominger, who is now prime contractor Orbital ATK toured and students during a visit to the Waterloo, vice president of Strategy and Business met with employees of Parker Hannifin in Iowa, manufacturing facility. Wheelift is Development for SLS prime contractor Lexington. Parker Hannifin manufactures currently building four transporters to lift Orbital ATK’s Propulsion Systems O-rings for the SLS boosters. and carry the massive SLS core stage. Division, received a warm welcome from (NASA/MSFC) They will be able to transport 75 tons Moog Inc. and the city of Aurora, New each. (NASA/MSFC) York. See a “Faces of SLS” profile on one of Moog’s employees. (NASA/MSFC)

On Oct. 20, NASA astronaut Mike Former NASA astronaut Don Thomas and SLS’s Sharon Cobb talks about NASA’s Hopkins, center, and other NASA and SLS’s Sharon Cobb get ready to talk to Journey to Mars Oct. 14 with Moog Inc. Orbital ATK representatives visited SLS some 350 employees of Cobham Oct. 14 employees and thanks them for their work industry partner American Synthetic in Orchard Park, New York. (NASA/MSFC) on SLS. (NASA/MSFC) Rubber Company (ASRC) and Farnsley Middle School in Louisville, Kentucky. (NASA/MSFC) SLS on Deck:

Follow SLS on: • Mobile Business Forum • Auburn University visit • NCTM Regional Conference

62 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NOVEMBER 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

NASA Marks Completion of Test Version of Key SLS Propulsion System

A structural test article of the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) for the SLS was completed at United Launch Alliance in Decatur, Alabama, prior to handover to The Boeing Company of Chicago. The ICPS structural test article ultimately will move to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where it will join other structural test articles and simulators that make up the upper portion of the rocket. Engineers will stack the structural test articles and move the 56-foot-tall structure to a test stand to verify the integrity of the hardware and ensure it can withstand the loads it may experience during flight. (ULA)

www.nasa.gov Getting Ready to Fly

NASA took the next big step Nov. 4 on the journey to Mars by placing the first RS-25 flight engine on the A-1 test stand at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The engine will be tested in the first part of 2016 to certify it for use on SLS. (NASA/ Stennis)

AMRO Fabricating Corp. Lining up Panels for NASA’s Space Launch System

Teams at AMRO Fabricating Corp. in South El Monte, California, show completed flight and structural test article hardware panels, arranged in order, for each section of SLS. AMRO is an industry partner helping build panels for the SLS core stage, launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) and Orion spacecraft. The panels, from bottom to top, represent the SLS engine section, liquid hydrogen tank, intertank, liquid oxygen tank, forward skirt, LVSA and Orion. (AMRO)

64 NASA Awards Contract to Restart Development of Engines to Power Agency’s Journey to Mars

NASA selected Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California, to restart production of the RS-25 engine for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, and deliver a certified engine. SLS will use four RS-25 engines to carry the agency’s Orion spacecraft and launch explorers on deep space missions, including to an asteroid placed in lunar orbit and ultimately to Mars.

Part of NASA’s strategy to minimize costs of developing the SLS rocket was to leverage the assets, capabilities, and experience of the Space Shuttle Program, so the first four missions will be flown using 16 existing shuttle engines that have been upgraded.

Under the $1.16 billion contract, Aerojet Rocketdyne will modernize the space shuttle heritage engine to make it more affordable and expendable for SLS. The contract runs November 2015 and continues through Sept. 30, 2024.

The new RS-25 engine developed under this contract will have fewer parts and welds and will be certified to a higher operational thrust level. The new engine benefits from improvements in materials and manufacturing techniques such as five-axis milling machines, 3-D manufacturing and digital X-rays.

The contract restarts the firm’s production capability including furnishing the necessary management, labor, facilities, tools, equipment and materials required for this effort, implementing modern fabrication processes and affordability improvements, and producing hardware required for development and certification testing.

The contract also allows for a potential future modification that would enable NASA to order six flight engines.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the SLS Program for the agency. Engine testing will be performed at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the SLS will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Faces of SLS

(NASA/MSFC)

65 Progress Continues on Test Version of SLS Adapter

The forward cone for a test version of the SLS launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) is lifted out of a weld tool following completion of eight vertical welds on the hardware at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The forward and aft rings also have been completed for the structural test article. The LVSA will connect two major sections — the core stage and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) — of the SLS. The LVSA structural test article will be stacked with other prototypes of the upper part of the rocket and tested in early 2016 at Marshall to verify the integrity of the hardware and ensure it can withstand the loads it may experience during flight. Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville is the prime contractor on the LVSA work. (NASA/MSFC)

No Small Steps

There are no small steps when it comes to NASA’s journey to Mars. Read about it, and watch the first video in a series on the topic, in “Rocketology.” (NASA)

66 67 On the Road...

Participating in a panel at the Oct. 28 Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium in Huntsville are, from left, Bill Hill, NASA assistant deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development; John Honeycutt, manager of the Space Launch System Program; Jennifer Kunz, deputy manager for NASA’s Ground Systems Development and Operations Program; and Paul Marshall, assistant program manager for the Orion Program. (NASA/MSFC)

SLS in the News: AP: NASA Makes Strides toward Journey to Mars

NASASpaceflight.com: New SLS test stands rise out of the ground at Marshall

Aviation Week: Big SLS Rocket Could Help Scientists Answer Big Questions

SLS was part of the Nov. 19-20 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Some 2,500 attendees came by the NASA booth to learn more about the SLS on Deck: rocket and the journey to Mars. (NASA/MSFC) • Weldall vendor visit • Work continues on hardware for second Follow SLS on: booster qualification test • Confidence welding on Vertical Assembly Center

68 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

DECEMBER 2015 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS

Going Up: Bolden Sees Progress SLS in the News: AP: NASA Makes Strides toward Journey to Mars on SLS Test Stand NASASpaceflight.com: New SLS test stands rise out With Test Stand 4693 of the ground at Marshall under construction in the background, Aviation Week: Big SLS Rocket Could Help Scientists NASA Administrator Answer Big Questions Charles Bolden outlines progress on NASA’s journey to Mars for media and employees Dec. 14 at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. When construction is SLS on Deck: completed, hydraulic cylinders at Test Stand • Weldall vendor visit 4693 will push, pull and bend the liquid hydrogen • Work continues on hardware for second tank of the SLS’s massive booster qualification test core stage to subject the • Confidence welding on Vertical Assembly Center tank and hardware to similar loads and stresses they will endure during launch. (NASA)

www.nasa.gov Operation Insulation: NASA Marshall Prepares for SLS Foam Testing

It’s “Operation Insulation” for SLS at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Steve Bray, right, a Bevilacqua Research Corp. employee supporting Marshall’s Engineering Directorate, is part of a team of engineers and technicians that is preparing panels that will be used for testing foam insulation materials for SLS. Different types of polyurethane- based foam will be used to protect and insulate the SLS core stage and launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA), which connects the core stage to the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). The ICPS will give the Orion spacecraft the big push needed to fly beyond the moon before the spacecraft returns to Earth. Approximately 180 panels have been prepped for various tests, which are being conducted to qualify the insulation for the challenging environments SLS will experience before and during flight. (NASA/MSFC)

Faces of SLS

(NASA/MSFC)

70 NASA Marshall’s John Hanson Wins AIAA Award for Work on SLS Rocket

John Hanson is keeping his eyes on the prize of helping build the most powerful rocket in history, NASA’s Space Launch System, for the journey to Mars and other destinations in deep space. And for those efforts, he’s getting a prestigious prize of his own from the world’s largest aerospace professional society. Hanson, alternate lead systems engineer in the Spacecraft and Vehicle Systems Department of the Engineering Directorate at the Marshall Space Flight Center, has been honored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) with the 2016 de Florez Award for Flight Simulation. (NASA/MSFC)

Be an Astronaut!

Let SLS be your ride! NASA is looking for the best candidates to work in the best job on or off the planet. The astronaut candidate application is live and accepting submissions through Feb. 18. More information also is available on the SLS blog, Rocketology. (NASA)

71 Spaceflight Partners: JBS Solutions

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every month, SLS Highlights turns the spotlight on one of the many industry partners helping to create the largest rocket ever built for human space exploration. In this issue, we profile JBS Solutions of Huntsville, Alabama.

If you’ve ever had to move the contents of your house across the country, or even just to the other side of town, you know how complicated things can get. The logistics of getting everything coordinated and in one piece from your point of origin to your destination can be overwhelming.

Now imagine trying to coordinate the move of a nearly 5-ton piece of the Space Launch System from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. JBS JBS Solutions provides logistics and transportation planning support for the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) as part Solutions has to think of this kind of challenge of the SLS Program configuration for the Marshall Center. every day. (NASA/MSFC)

JBS Solutions is a HUBZone-certified and public highway, so it will have to travel from Marshall to Economically Disadvantaged Woman Owned Small Kennedy via a commercial barge. Business in Huntsville. The company provides logistics and transportation planning support for the JBS engineers must account for conditions such launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) as part of the as water height, bridge height, waterway traffic and SLS Program configuration for the Marshall Center. weather — all while ensuring the valuable hardware arrives safely, on time and undamaged. To do this and LVSA is a critical element of the SLS. It will connect handle the many other critical details, JBS Solutions the rocket’s 27.5-foot diameter core stage and is developing a comprehensive end-to-end plan that 16.4-foot-diameter interim cryogenic propulsion provides highly tailored logistics and transportation stage (ICPS). In addition to providing structural solutions for this one-of-kind challenge. support for launch and separation loads, LVSA will also protect the delicate electrical devices in the In addition to its support for the LVSA project, JBS propulsion systems from the extreme conditions Solutions is developing new practices for supply chain encountered in the challenging launch environment. management using the SLS Program as a benchmarking effort. JBS is establishing an efficient supply chain The sheer size and weight of the LVSA make management structure and ensuring availability and transporting it to Kennedy an especially complex readiness of critical elements of the SLS. task. As the prime contractor for LVSA, Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville knew it needed the By defining key performance indicators and mapping kind of expertise JBS Solutions could offer to tackle state-of-the-art enterprise supply chain management the unique transportation logistics. The company’s practices, JBS is empowering NASA to monitor, experienced engineers must consider an extremely evaluate and enforce schedule performance in the long list of variables. For example, the completed supply chain and providing a helping hand to literally hardware will be too wide and too tall to travel on a move NASA’s space exploration goals forward.

72 73 On the Road...

On Dec. 9, SLS toured Weldall Manufacturing Inc. in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Weldall is a key partner in helping build the rocket’s core stage. (NASA/MSFC)

Former NASA astronaut Don Thomas inspects rubber that will The astronaut is ready to climb aboard the SLS on Dec. 11 at the be used in cork-rubber materials for SLS booster insulation Rocket City Marathon Expo in Huntsville, Alabama. (NASA/MSFC) Dec. 10 at Amorim Cork Composites in Trevor, Wisconsin. (NASA/MSFC)

SLS on Deck: • Confidence welding on Vertical Assembly Center Follow SLS on: at Michoud • RS-25 flight engine test • Flight interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) liquid hydrogen tank production complete

74 75 National Aeronautics and Space Administration George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL 35812 www.nasa.gov/marshall www.nasa.gov

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