NASA will conduct its second Green Run hot-fire test from the central stage of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
In a statement on Monday, the agency announced that it was targeting a two-hour test window on Thursday, March 18 at 3 pm ET, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St Louis, Mississippi.
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Engineers will power the central stage systems, load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant into the tanks and fire the four RS-25 engines from the SLS rocket at the same time to simulate the launch and generate 1.6 million pounds of thrust.
The 212-foot-high central stage – installed on the renovated B-2 test bench – gives the SLS rocket the tallest rocket stage the agency has ever built. It consists of engines, a liquid hydrogen tank, a liquid oxygen tank and electronics, avionics and computers.
The central stage design will be used for all configurations of the SLS rocket, so the Green Run tests – of which there are eight – are crucial to the success of NASA’s next lunar missions.
The term “green” refers to the new hardware used to power the stage and “run” refers to all components working together simultaneously for the first time.
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The hot fire test is the eighth and final test in the Green Run series that will ensure that the central stage is ready to launch NASA’s Artemis missions to the moon.
“The SLS main stage is an engineering feat that includes not only the largest rocket propellant tanks ever built, but also sophisticated avionics and major propulsion systems,” said Lisa Bates, SLS deputy stage manager, in a July 2019 statement. “Although the rocket is designed to evolve over time for different mission objectives, the design of the central stage will remain basically the same. The Green Run acceptance test gives NASA the confidence to know that the new central stage will perform repeatedly as intended. “
The central stage complex was built and manufactured at NASA’s Michoud assembly facility in New Orleans earlier that year.
“Green Run is a historic moment for NASA and Stennis for a number of reasons,” said director of the Stennis Space Center, Richard Gilbrech, in the same statement. “For the first time in NASA history, a launch vehicle will use flight hardware for its first test, and the Stennis test benches will once again test the central stage for lunar missions.”
The John C. Stennis Space Center is the country’s space center larger rocket engine test complex.
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Once the internship validation is complete, the internship will be refurbished as needed and sent to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch of Artemis 1.
NASA plans to begin live coverage of Thursday’s hot fire test on NASA Television, the NASA app, social media and the agency’s website, and a test briefing is also scheduled for approximately two hours later.