NASA tested the largest, most powerful booster ever built for flight for the agency’s new rocket, the Space Launch System(SLS) on June 28 at Orbital ATK Aerospace System’s test facility in Promontory, Utah. SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft will launch astronauts on missions to explore multiple destinations on the journey to Mars.
This was the second two-minute, full duration qualification test for the booster, and will provide NASA with critical data to support booster qualification for flight. This second test measured the booster’s performance at the colder end of the accepted propellant temperature range, a targeted 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It was also the last time the booster will be fired in a test environment before the first flight of SLS and Orion in 2018.
