美国宇航局的SLS火箭的最后一件测试品离开Michoud组装工厂

2019年6月26日星期三，美国国家航空航天局航天发射系统(SLS)四件结构测试品中的最后一件被装载在位于新奥尔良的美国国家航空航天局米绍德组装工厂的飞马号驳船上。这艘驳船将把液氧(LOX)储罐结构测试品从米绍德送到位于阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔的美国宇航局马歇尔航天飞行中心进行关键结构测试。液氧舱是火箭核心阶段的两个推进剂舱之一，将产生超过200万磅的推力，帮助将阿耳忒弥斯1号——NASA猎户座飞船和SLS的第一次飞行——送入月球。这个近70英尺长的测试装置与飞行版本在结构上是相同的，飞行版本将容纳19.6万加仑液氧，并将其超冷至零下297华氏度。

美国宇航局正致力于在2024年之前让第一位女性和第二位男性登上月球。SLS是美国国家航空航天局(NASA)深度太空探索的支柱之一，与猎户座(Orion)和绕月轨道通道(Gateway in orbit around the Moon)一起。SLS是唯一一种可以将猎户座、宇航员和补给单次发射到月球的火箭。

The last of four structural test articles for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) was loaded onto NASA’s Pegasus barge Wednesday, June 26, 2019, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The barge will deliver the liquid oxygen (LOX) tank structural test article from Michoud to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for critical structural testing. The liquid oxygen tank is one of two propellant tanks in the rocket’s core stage that will produce more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help send Artemis 1, the first flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and SLS, to the Moon. The nearly 70-foot-long test article is structurally identical to the flight version, which will hold 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen super cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit.

NASA is working to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts and supplies to the Moon on a single mission.

Image Credit: NASA/Jude Guidry