The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) completed testing Artemis Space Launch System (SLS) after destroying the rocket's oxygen tank with crippling force.
The space agency shared a video showing a 70 ft. oxygen tank blown apart, which will form part of the rocket designed to fly to the Moon. NASA previously confirmed that the engineers completed the SLS rocket's structural testing campaign for Artemis lunar missions after testing the liquid oxygen structural test article to locate its point of failure.
In the name of science, @NASA_Marshall engineers will try to break a structural test article of a liquid oxygen tank—on purpose. The test will provide valuable data for safely & efficiently flying our @NASA_SLS rocket on #Artemis missions to the Moon: https://t.co/KpNPMwmesy pic.twitter.com/nypAZTS21O — NASA (@NASA) June 21, 2020
"The Space Launch System and Marshall test team have done a tremendous job of accomplishing this test program, marking a major milestone not only for the SLS Program but also for the Artemis program," said the SLS Program Manager, John Honeycutt.
"From building the test stands, support equipment, and test articles to conducting the tests and analyzing the data, it is remarkable work that will help send astronauts to the Moon," he added.
A part of NASA's Space Launch System was destroyed to see how well it would cope with the pressure it would experience when launched into orbit. The test result was good news for NASA since it is what the engineers predicted, meaning it passed the test proving flight readiness.
The SLS structural qualification test campaign concluded on June 24 as @NASA_Marshall engineers purposely pushed a liquid oxygen tank test article to its limits. Water gushed out of the tank as it buckled within 2% of the predicted failure value. MORE >> https://t.co/L6mOUHhnkJ pic.twitter.com/AEHv4haucW — NASA_SLS (@NASA_SLS) June 25, 2020
It served as an important factor in the development of the SLS. NASA claimed that the rocket will be the most powerful one ever developed, allowing humans to explore the solar system, starting with the Moon and Mars. The space agency hoped that the Orion spacecraft will be launched by SLS to deliver the first woman and next man on the surface of the Moon by 2024, Daily Mail reported.
How did NASA destroy the rocket's oxygen tank?
Millions of pounds of crippling force were applied from all sides of the 28 ft. wide oxygen tank, which was bolted into a massive steel rink during the experiment. It will be equivalent to the force the rocket will experience once it is launched to space.
"The test team has done a tremendous job of accomplishing this test program, marking a major milestone not only for the SLS Program but also for the Artemis program," said John Honeycutt.
'It is remarkable work that will help send astronauts to the Moon,' he added.More than 421 gigabytes of data were generated by 199 separate tests, which were fed into the computer models used to design and perfect the giant engines. The SLS was the single largest test program the space agency has conducted for a rocket more than 30 years ago, since the Space Shuttle Program.'
The final test proved that SLS had passed all the testing requirements, which were needed before the launch of Artemis 1 - the first Artemis mission. The Orion craft will be launched by Artemis 1 into space for a three-week-long uncrewed flight test to the Moon in November 2021, as scheduled by NASA.
