The countdown is underway for the hot fire test with the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, scheduled for Jan. 16. Engineers have initiated power up of the avionics for the Artemis I core stage.
On Saturday, Jan.16, the management team will provide approval to proceed into the test, followed by a briefing for the test team in the Test Control Center at the B test complex.
Six barges filled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen will supply the propellant to the B-2 test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where the Green Run tests are taking place. The engines use cryogenic, or supercooled, liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer to create combustion.
To fill each of the six barges, three for liquid oxygen and three for liquid hydrogen, it required 18 to 20 tanker trucks worth of propellant. The barges are towed by tug from a fuel depot at Stennis to the B-2 stand.
Learn more about Green Run, and check back at this blog for updates on the SLS core stage hot fire test.