THE HEART OF NASA'S SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM ARRIVED AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER LAST APRIL AS THE AGENCY'S FIRST HUMANRATED DEEP SPACE ROCKET IN 50 YEARS.
The 212-foot core stage rocket, along with a pair of solid rocket boosters, and the Orion crew module largely make up the Space Launch System (SLS), which NASA is counting on for its Artemis program's 2026 return to the moon-a feat the agency last accomplished with Apollo 17 in 1972.
Despite the decades between manned lunar launches, the SLS relies on a workhorse from the shuttle program. Mounted at the bottom of the core stage are four RS-25 engines-formerly called the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME)-supplied by Aerojet Rocketdyne. Originally designed in the 1970s, the engines are seasoned, upgraded veterans, with 25 previous space shuttle flights among them. Among the four engines mounted to the SLS are numbers 2045 and 2060, both used on July 8, 2011, to launch the shuttle's final mission, STS-135.
Doug Bradley was at Kennedy Space Center during that launch, working as a chief engineer for Rocketdyne. “I've been to many flights, but it was different for 135, Bradley says. “It was electric. It was a very emotional flight.
The retirement of the space shuttle left Rocketdyne with a backlog of 16 engines, which the company mothballed. It was sad, says Bradley, to see them decommissioned when they could have flown dozens more missions.
This story is from the May - June 2022 edition of Popular Mechanics.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May - June 2022 edition of Popular Mechanics.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Cutting the Cord
THE HANDHELD CIRCULAR SAW IS PERHAPS THE MOST VERSAtile power tool for cutting wood.
BUILDING COLLAPSES IN U.S. HISTORY
THE CASCADING FAILURES BEHIND ONE OF THE WORST
How Three Amateurs Solved the Zodiac Killer's '340' Cipher
The mysterious code stumped the FBI and NSA for 53 years. What does the key, and the resulting solution, tell us about the infamous murderer?
POPULAR MECHANICS TOP AWARDS 2024
For more than 120 years, Popular Mechanics has been a heavy-duty brand. We see no reason to change that now.
How This Particle Could Break Our Understanding of Reality
EINSTEIN'S SPECIAL THEORY OF relativity teaches us that nothing can accelerate past the speed of light. But what if, when you were born, you were already moving faster than light? What would that look like?
The Right Way to Use a Fire Extinguisher
A FIRE EXTINGUISHER IS MORE THAN A of one 5-gallon bucket becomes the size of 64 burning buckets. Just 180 seconds after it begins, a fire can be transformed from a nuisance to a room-size, life-threatening inferno.
How the World's Largest Spherical Structure Was Built
THE SHINY, NEW LAS VEGAS SPHERE IS more than just a 17,600-seat amphitheaterstyle venue hosting a U2 residency. Since its opening in September 2023, it's become the world's largest spherical structure, at 516 feet wide and 366 feet tall.
The Army's Drone-Killing Laser Weapon
THE U.S. ARMY FIELDED ITS FIRST LASERweapon-equipped unit in October. Based at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the unit took possession of four laser-equipped Stryker infantry combat vehicles, each mounting a 50-kilowatt-class laser-weapon system. The combination of Stryker and laser can down both artillery, such as mortars and rockets, and drones in-flight.
Why It's So Hard to Mine the World's Largest Lithium Deposit
A Pass, or Peehee Mu'huh to the local Paiute people has been mined since the 1970s, so the new analysis merely confirms what locals have long known about the area.
WHAT THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL X-RAY LASER WILL DO FOR SCIENCE
DEEP UNDER MENLO PARK, California, there is a threemile-long machine operating in a tunnel that scientists are keeping colder than even some of the deepest reaches of space.
