The NASA barge Pegasus is 310 feet long and 50 feet wide. It looks cavernous, but it will soon be filled with newly manufactured parts of NASA’s Space Launch System—the world’s most powerful rocket. The barge will carry test and flight hardware from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where these large rocket parts of the SLS core stage are being manufactured with innovative robotic welding tools. Pegasus completed its final space shuttle-related voyage in 2011, and has been modified and refurbished to carry the SLS core stage. Pegasus was lengthened from 260 feet to 310 feet to accommodate the larger core stage. The core stage along with two solid rocket boosters will produce enough power to send the rocket along with astronauts and large cargos to space where they can depart for Mars and other distant destinations.
Image Credit: Charles Nowlin/Stennis