Engineering news
The Artemis-1 mission, the first stage in NASA’s plan to build a long-term human presence on the Moon, is the first to use the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The uncrewed flight will demonstrate systems onboard the Orion spacecraft, which is designed to travel further from Earth than any vehicle built for humans.
The super-heavy lift SLS “provides the foundation for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit,” according to NASA. The agency evaluated thousands of combinations of propulsion systems, stages, boosters, performance and other parameters to create the rocket, which will be adapted and reconfigured for future deep space missions.
Making it to the Moon requires enormous power to overcome Earth’s gravity and set the spacecraft on a precise trajectory. As Artemis-1 starts a new chapter in space exploration, here are some of the key numbers for the SLS, the world’s most powerful rocket – at least until the SpaceX Starship starts operating.
Height: 322ft (98.1m)
Mass at lift-off: 5.75 million pounds (2,600 tonnes)
Thrust at lift-off: 8.8 million pounds
Payload to the Moon: 59,000 pounds (26.7 tonnes)
22,600mph (36,370km/h): the speed that the SLS will propel Orion to, to escape Earth’s gravity and reach the Moon
Core stage size: 212 feet tall (64.6m) and 27.6 feet (8.4m) in diameter, the largest ever built by length and volume
Liquid hydrogen fuel tank size: 27.6 feet (8.4m) in diameter and 130.8 feet (39.9m) tall
Liquid oxygen tank capacity: 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen at -147ºC
Eight minutes: the time the core stage is designed to operate for during launch and ascent
Nearly 1,000-times further: how much further the Moon is than the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit, a frequent destination for crewed launches
Total mission distance: approximately 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometres)
90 seconds: the rocket reaches the period of greatest atmospheric force just one-and-a-half minutes after launch
One central core stage that houses propellant tanks, engines, and avionics
Four liquid propellant RS-25 engines powered by cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen
Two solid-fuel rocket boosters that provide the majority of thrust and steering for the rocket during the first two minutes of flight
One upper stage fuelled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for in-space propulsion after separation from the core stage
52 storeys: the height of the Vehicle Assembly Building, used for final assembly and testing of the rocket and spacecraft.
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