171: NASAs SLS= Space Launch System
This week, NASA has announced that they are moving towards the first launch attempt for the Artemis I mission with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft currently in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA is currently targeting launch for no earlier than Monday, Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT during a 2 hour window!!!!! So, Dean and Beth dig right in to the who, what, where, when, why and how of NASA\u2019s Space Launch System on this week\u2019s episode of the Casual Space Podcast!\xa0
NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) is the world\u2019s most powerful rocket and the backbone of NASA\u2019s human lunar exploration program (check out this reference guide ASAP: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/sls_reference_guide_2022_v2_508_0.pdf). No other rocket can send astronauts and the Orion spacecraft directly to the Moon for the Artemis missions. SLS provides an unmatched capability to deliver greater mass and volume than any current launch vehicle for both human and robotic exploration of the Moon, Mars, and the outer planets. SLS was established by the NASA Authorization Act of 2010. The program was created at Marshall in 2011 and received funding in FY2012. SLS is the world\u2019s first exploration-class launch vehicle since the Apollo Program\u2019s Saturn V. Along with SLS, NASA\u2019s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate is developing the EGS and the Orion spacecraft for crew. Orion, managed at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, is a spacecraft designed to carry astronauts on exploration missions into deep space. EGS has converted facilities at Kennedy into a next-generation spaceport capable of supporting launches by multiple types of vehicles.\xa0
More about NASA\u2019s SLS: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html\xa0