The core stage test team recently completed structural testing confirming the stage’s liquid hydrogen tank structural design is good for conditions that will be experienced in the rocket’s initial configuration, called Block 1, during the Artemis I launch. The 149-foot test article was lifted into a test stand at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers put the tank through the paces during 37 separate test cases that simulated the stresses of launch that the SLS rocket experiences during flight. Testing will continue later this year to show the tank’s structural design is adequate for future designs of the vehicle as it evolves to a Block IB configuration and missions with more extreme forces.
Image Credit: NASA/Tyler Martin