Engineers install test hardware for NASA’s new heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System, into a new, 50-foot structural test stand at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In the stand, hydraulic cylinders will be electronically controlled to exert millions of pounds of force on the test article. Engineers will verify the capabilities of the engine section and validate that the design and analysis models accurately predict the loads the core stage can withstand during launch and ascent. The engine section is the first of four core stage structural test articles delivered to Marshall for testing. Situated at the bottom of SLS’s massive core stage, the section will house the rocket’s four RS-25 engines and serve as an attachment point for the two solid rocket boosters.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given