To support future flights of NASA’s powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, NASA and Northrop Grumman, the SLS booster lead contractor, will conduct a full-scale Flight Support Booster (FSB-1) test in Promontory, Utah, on Sept. 2. The SLS rocket utilizes two, five-segment solid rocket boosters to help launch NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon. NASA and Northrop Grumman have completed testing for the boosters used for the first three Artemis missions of the agency’s lunar program. FSB-1 builds upon prior tests of the rocket’s five-segment solid rocket booster to evaluate improvements and new materials in the boosters for missions beyond Artemis III. The test will be broadcast live on NASA TV and the agency’s website at 2:40 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
NASA is working to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. The SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, Gateway, and Human Landing System are part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration. The Artemis program is the next step in human space exploration. It’s part of America’s broader Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which astronauts will explore the Moon. Experience gained there will enable humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.
Image Credit: NASA/Kevin O’Brien