NASA successfully tested the world's most powerful solid fuel booster

Such an engine will launch man to mars

Clip from the official account of NASA

Earlier this month, it became known that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States will test a solid fuel accelerator of the future Space Launch System (SLS), a super-heavy space launch system. Media representatives were invited to a two-minute test launch, and the test itself was shown via NASA.


This video quality is lower, but it is twice as long. You can see the end of the test and the subsequent filling of the inside of the accelerator with carbon dioxide to completely stop the combustion process.

The test of the accelerator, which NASA calls the most powerful ever built, passed successfully . The project was not developed from scratch: it is still the same accelerator as the shuttle. Space shuttles were launched using two such accelerators. SLS has two of them too, but they will not be four, but five segments. This difference is also not entirely new: before the tragedy of “Columbia” in 2003, an additional segment was considered for launching shuttles, with it it would be possible to get rid of some unsafe scenarios of emergency return of the device and bring 9.1 tons more cargo to the ISS orbit. The novelty also has disadvantages: with the addition of a new segment, it becomes more difficult to control the thrust vector.
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On March 11, an accelerator mounted in a Utah desert installation underwent a static test. The fuel burned for two minutes, the same accelerator will work in a real rocket. During the work, a thrust of about 16 meganewtons was produced, the temperature inside was developing at 3100 ° C - enough iron to boil. Data on the performance of 102 different parameters were recorded by 531 devices. As a result, it was found that the accelerator meets the flight requirements specified for it, including the developed thrust and pressure.

This is the first of two tests that are required for an accelerator to be used in SLS. The second will be held in early 2016. Unlike yesterday’s test, in which the accelerator was gradually warmed up to ≈32 ° C over several weeks, the second will be carried out at ≈4 ° C. Then the data on these extreme points of the temperature range acceptable for operation will be compared to obtain an accurate model of accelerator operation. The importance of research is dictated by the features of the operation of solid-fuel engines - after starting them cannot be stopped, you can not change the level of intensity of combustion of fuel.

Interestingly, yesterday's test was also filled with history. The accelerator under test was assembled from several parts, for example, the skirt was from the first launch of the shuttle, and the head fairing was from the last.


Planned configurations of the super-heavy launch vehicle Space Launch System with a mass of output cargo to low near-earth orbit from 70 to 130 tons

Two such solid-fuel accelerators will develop more than 75% of the thrust required for the SLS rocket payload to get out of the gravitational well of our planet. In addition to them, the first stage has 4 RS-25D / E. The work of these devices has also been worked out - these are the main engines of the shuttles. On each of the shuttles stood three such engines. The second stage uses engines of the RL10 family, known for the Delta IV.

SLS is a promising launch system that is being developed for a variety of ambitious projects: landing a man on the surface of Mars, flying to an asteroid, and transporting it. Of course, SLS will be able to deliver commercial satellites, modules of a space station or its crew members. The project involves more than 500 companies throughout the United States. The first launch of the SLS will take place in a 70-ton configuration with the Orion ship without a crew. The likely date is 2018 or later.