Artist conceptofSLScorestage onthePegasusbarge. external tanksofthespaceshuttlesandotherflight designed andbuiltin1999totransportthegiant large spaceflightstructures.Pegasuswasspecially NASA hasfordecadesusedbargestomoveits longest itemevershippedbyaNASA barge. and flightcomputer. The SLS corestagewillbethe engines, andalsocontainsthevehicle’s avionics oxygen tanksthatwillfeedfourRS-25rocket includes thecryogenicliquidhydrogenand The 213-foot-tall,27.6-foot-diametercorestage ultimately toMars. deep spacemissions,includingtoanasteroidand SLS willbethemostpowerfulrocketeverbuiltfor NASA centersfortestingandlaunches. Michoud Assembly FacilityinNewOrleanstoother the SpaceLaunchSystem,onjourneysfrom massive corestageoftheagency’s newrocket, NASA’s barge,Pegasus,willbeusedtoferrythe Core StagePegasusBarge Space LaunchSystem Space Administration and Aeronautics National Mississippi. BecausetheSLScorestageismore NASA’s Stennis SpaceCenternearBaySt.Louis, voyage in2011 andhassincebeenhousedat Pegasus completeditsfinalspaceshuttle-related for the Apollo Program. used tocarrySaturnrocketstagesandhardware replaced PoseidonandOrion,bargesthatwere inland andopen-oceanwaterways.Pegasus Florida --a900-milejourneythatincludesboth Kennedy SpaceCenterontheeasterncoastof hardware fromtheLouisianashoretoNASA’s A 115-foot sectionofthebargewasremovedand LLC inMorganCity, Louisiana,weregiventhetask. new mission.In2014,crewsatConradShipyard Pegasus hadtobemodifiedandrefurbishedforits ment, morethan600,000poundsheavier, including groundsupportandtransportationequip than 50feettallerthespaceshuttletankand, - NASAfacts replaced with a 165-foot section specially designed to increase Pegasus Barge Facts the cargo weight Pegasus can accommodate and lengthening it from 260 feet to 310 feet - longer than a football field. Length: 310 feet (94.4 meters) The Army Corps of Engineers Marine Design Center in Philadel- phia, utilizing the engineering expertise of Bristol Harbor Group Width: 50 feet (15.24 meters) of Bristol, Rhode Island, performed the naval architecture and marine engineering design, as well as management of the Usable cargo deck length: 240 feet (73.15 meters) Conrad contract. The modifications were completed in 2015. The first voyages for the refurbished Pegasus are planned Usable cargo deck width: 36 feet (10.97 meters) for late 2016, to carry core stage structural test articles from Michoud to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Usable cargo deck height: 41 feet (12.49 meters) Alabama -- a trip of from seven to 10 days. At Marshall, the elements of the core stage will undergo structural loads testing. On-Board Power: Three 200 kilowatt generators These tests are performed to ensure each piece of hardware can endure loads without any adverse effects to the vehicle, or Engines: None. Tugboats or towing vessels are most importantly, to the crew. required to move the barge. Pegasus is expected to ferry the flight-ready core stage to Sten- nis for testing in the fall of 2017, and then to Kennedy in early 2018 for integration into the SLS flight vehicle in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Trips from Michoud to Stennis will take ap- The first flight test of the SLS will feature a Block I configuration proximately one day; the trips from Stennis to Kennedy will take for a 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capacity and carry an uncrewed approximately six days. Orion spacecraft beyond low-Earth orbit to test the performance of the integrated system. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the SLS pro- gram for the agency. Marshall Center Operations’ Transportation As the SLS evolves, it will provide an unprecedented lift capabil- and Logistics Engineering Office manages, operates and main- ity of 130 metric tons (143 tons) to enable missions even farther tains Pegasus and NASA’s barge transportation program. into our solar system to places like Mars.

For more information about SLS, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/sls/ http://www.twitter.com/NASA_SLS http://www.facebook.com/NASASLS http://www.instagram.com/exploreNASA

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

FS-2015-07-066-MSFC NASA Facts