Boeing and NASA on Dec. 20 completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage and avionics, val...
Boeing and NASA on Dec. 20 completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage and avionics, validating the design of the rocket that will send humans beyond low Earth orbit to places like the moon, an asteroid and ultimately Mars.
The PDR is a comprehensive review that demonstrates that the design meets all system requirements within acceptable risk constraints, establishing approval for proceeding with detailed design.
The first mission in 2017 will be an un-crewed loop around Earth's moon, to be followed by a crewed mission.
The team designing America's new flagship rocket Space Launch System (SLS) will take the agency's Orion spacecraft and other payloads beyond low-Earth orbit, providing a new capability for human exploration.
The first flight test of the SLS, which will feature a configuration for a 70-metric ton lift capacity and carry an uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond the moon, is scheduled for 2017. As the SLS evolves, a two-stage launch vehicle using the core stage will provide a lift capability of 130-metric tons to enable missions beyond low-Earth orbit and to support deep space exploration.
The purpose of the PDR was to ensure the designmet system requirements within acceptable risk and fell within schedule and budget constraints. An important part of the PDR was to prove the core stage could integrate safely with other elements of the rocket's main engines and solid rocket boosters, the crew capsule and the launchfacilities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Core stage designers provided an in-depth assessment to a board of engineers comprised of propulsion and design experts fromacross the agency and the aerospace industry.
The core stage will be built at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans using state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment. The plant continues modifying its facilities and ordering materials for construction of the rocket. Michoud has built components for NASA's spacecraft for decades, most recently, the space shuttle's external tanks.
Boeing and NASA achieved three important milestones in the past year -- System Requirements Review, SystemsDesign Review and now PDR. Boeing can now proceed to the Critical Design Review, the final step -- expected in 2014 -- that officially gives Boeing the authority to proceed into production. Boeing continues to develop production capability for the heavy-lift rocket at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
