World's Largest Spacecraft Welding Tool for Space Launch System
World's Largest Spacecraft Welding Tool for Space Launch System
The
largest spacecraft welding tool in the world, the Vertical Assembly
Center, officially is open for business at NASA's Michoud Assembly
Facility in New Orleans. . The 170-foot-tall, 78-foot-wide giant completes
a world-class welding toolkit that will be used to build the core stage
of America's next great rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). . SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space
missions, including to an asteroid and eventually Mars. The core
stage, towering more than 200 feet tall (61 meters) with a diameter of
27.6 feet (8.4 meters), will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid
oxygen that will feed the rocket's RS-25 engines. . The Vertical Assembly Center is part of a family of state-of-the-art
tools designed to weld the core stage of SLS. It will join domes, rings
and barrels to complete the tanks or dry structure assemblies. . It also
will be used to perform evaluations on the completed welds. Boeing is
the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, including avionics. > Release: NASA Unveils World's Largest Spacecraft Welding Tool for Space Launch System Image Credit: NASA
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