When it comes to tools to build spacecraft, NASA likes to think big, as the recent unveiling of the world's largest rocket-constructing welding tool amply demonstrates.
The Vertical Assembly Center is a welding facility stretching 170 feet high that will help construct the core, central stage of the Space Launch System, the most powerful launch vehicle ever built for missions into Earth orbit and beyond into deep space , the space agency says.
The state-of-the-art welding tool, more than 70 feet wide, will weld together rings, barrels and domes making up the 200-foot-tall SLS core stage, which will hold cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen to feed the launch rocket's four giant engines.
"This rocket is a game changer in terms of deep space exploration and will launch NASA astronauts to investigate asteroids and explore the surface of Mars while opening new possibilities for science missions, as well," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Vertical Assembly Center at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
NASA has several tools similar to the VAC at its disposal, and has recently finished welding rings for the SLS using another mega-welding tool, the Segmented Ring Tool.
The Vertical Weld Center was already in operation in advance of its official public unveiling, having welded ten barrel sections for the SLS core stage.
The rings will connect and stiffen the barrels and domes that constitute the five major structures of the core stage; the forward skirt, a liquid oxygen tank, an intertank, liquid hydrogen tank and the stage's engine section.
"The SLS Program continues to make significant progress," said SLS program manager Todd May. "This is a major milestone for the program and proof the first new design for SLS is mature enough for production."
The Space Launch System in intended to replace NASA's retired Space Shuttle program and provide a single launch vehicle that can take both astronauts and the supplies into deep space.
Several variations of the SLS are planned, each capable of lifting ever-heavier payloads into space, starting with low Earth orbit and then taking astronauts and cargo to beyond-LEO destinations, including the moon and Mars.
The final version, capable of lifting 130 tons into space, will be the biggest heavy lift launch vehicle ever constructed.
Boeing is the prime contractor behind the SLS core stage, in charge of both the structure and its avionics.
When completed the 200-foot core stage will be almost 30 feet across.
