NASA spent October lifting part of the 103-ton simulator into orbit in preparation for the next mission to the Moon.

NASA has spent the last two weeks lifting the 103-ton component into a simulator and installing it to help prepare for the next Moon mission. Workers installed part of the stage simulator in the Thad Cochran Test Stand at the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The connector part mimics the same part of the SLS (Space Launch System) that will help secure the upper stage of the rocket, which will propel the Orion spacecraft to its planned Artemis launch.

The Thad Cochran Test Stand is where NASA sets up the SLS components and conducts comprehensive testing to ensure they will be safe and perform as intended for spaceflight versions. The new section was installed in the B-2 area of ​​the test facility and is now equipped with all the necessary pipes, tubes and electrical systems for future test operations.

The middle stage will protect the electrical and propulsion systems and support SLS’s EUS (Exploration Upper Stage) in the latest iteration of the rocket design, Block 1B. It will replace the current Block 1 version and provide a 40 percent larger payload. The EUS will support 38 tons of cargo and crew or 42 tons without crew, compared to 27 tons of crew and cargo in the Block 1 iteration. (Progress!) Four RL10 engines, made by contractor L3Harris, will power the new EUS.

The simulation section of the stage that NASA spent mid-October installing weighs 103 tons and measures 31 feet wide by 33 feet long. The upper part of the stage will absorb the EUS hot fire thrust, returning it to the test area so that the test area does not collapse under the four engines’ more than 97,000 pounds of thrust.