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ESA-developed P120C solid rocket motor enters production
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By NASA
NASA/Kevin O’Brien Demonstration Motor-1 (DM-1) is the first full-scale ground test of the evolved five-segment solid rocket motor of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The event will take place in Promontory, Utah, and will be used as an opportunity to test several upgrades made from the current solid rocket boosters. Each booster burns six tons of solid propellant every second and together generates almost eight million pounds of thrust.
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Jonathan Deal
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
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By NASA
NASA/Kevin O’Brien NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters are the largest, most powerful solid propellant boosters to ever fly. Standing 17 stories tall and burning approximately six tons of propellant every second, each booster generates 3.6 million pounds of a thrust for a total of 7.2 million pounds: more thrust than 14 four-engine jumbo commercial airliners. Together, the SLS twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total thrust at launch. Each booster houses eight booster separation motors which are responsible for separating the boosters from the core stage during flight.
At the top of each booster is the frustum—a truncated cone-shaped structure that, along with the nose cone, forms the aerodynamic fairing. This frustum houses four of the separation motors, while the remaining four are located at the bottom within the aft skirt.
Image Credit: NASA/Kevin O’Brien
For more information on the Artemis Campaign, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis/
News Media Contact
Jonathan Deal
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Artist concept highlighting the novel approach proposed by the 2025 NIAC awarded selection of the Breathing Beyond Earth concept.NASA/Alvaro Romero-Calvo Alvaro Romero-Calvo
Georgia Tech Research Corporation
The reliable and efficient operation of spacecraft life support systems is challenged in microgravity by the near absence of buoyancy. This impacts the electrolytic production of oxygen and hydrogen from water by forcing the adoption of complex multiphase flow management technologies. Still, water splitting plays an essential role in human spaceflight, closing the regenerative environmental control and life support loop and connecting the water and atmosphere management subsystems. Existing oxygen generation systems, although successful for short-term crewed missions, lack the reliability and efficiency required for long-duration spaceflight and, in particular, for Mars exploration.
During our Phase I NIAC effort, we demonstrated the basic feasibility of a novel water-splitting architecture that leverages contactless magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) forces to produce and separate oxygen and hydrogen gas bubbles in microgravity. The system, known as the Magnetohydrodynamic Oxygen Generation Assembly (MOGA), avoids the use of forced water recirculation loops or moving parts such as pumps or centrifuges for phase separation. This fundamental paradigm shift results in multiple operational advantages with respect to the state-of-the-art: increased robustness to over- and under-voltages in the cell stack, minimal risk of electrolyte leaching, wider operational temperature and humidity levels, simpler transient operation, increased material durability, enhanced system stability during dormant periods, modest water purity requirements, reduced microbial growth, and better component-level swap-ability, all of which result in an exceptionally robust system. Overall, these architectural features lead to a 32.9% mass reduction and 20.4% astronaut maintenance time savings with respect to the Oxygen Generation Assembly at the ISS for a four-crew Mars transfer, making the system ideally suited for long-duration missions. In Phase II, we seek to answer some of the key remaining unknowns surrounding this architecture, particularly regarding (i) the long-term electrochemical and multiphase flow behavior of the system in microgravity and its impact on power consumption and liquid interface stability, (ii) the transient operational modes of the MHD drive during start-up, shutdown, and dormancy, and (iii) architectural improvements for manufacturability and ease of repair. Toward that end, we will leverage our combined expertise in microgravity research by partnering with the ZARM Institute in Bremen and the German Aerospace Center to fly, free of charge to NASA, a large-scale magnetohydrodynamic drive system and demonstrate critical processes and components. An external review board composed of industry experts will assess the evolution of the project and inform commercial infusion. This effort will result in a TRL-4 system that will also benefit additional technologies of interest to NASA and the general public, such as water-based SmallSat propulsion and in-situ resource utilization.
2025 Selections
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Last Updated May 27, 2025 EditorLoura Hall Related Terms
NIAC Studies NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics
Space Technology Mission Directorate
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts
NIAC Funded Studies
About NIAC
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Artist concept highlighting the novel approach proposed by the 2025 NIAC awarded selection of the TFINER concept.NASA/James Bickford James Bickford
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
The Thin-Film Nuclear Engine Rocket (TFINER) is a novel space propulsion technology that enables aggressive space exploration for missions that are impossible with existing approaches. The concept uses thin layers of energetic radioisotopes to directly generate thrust. The emission direction of its natural decay products is biased by a substrate to accelerate the spacecraft. A single stage design is very simple and can generate velocity changes of ~100 km/s using a few kilograms of fuel and potentially more than 150 km/s for more advanced architectures.
The propulsion system enables a rendezvous with intriguing interstellar objects such as ‘Oumuamua that are on hyperbolic orbits through our solar system. A particular advantage is the ability to maneuver in deep space to find objects with uncertainty in their location. The same capabilities also enable a fast trip to the solar gravitational focus to image multiple potentially habitable exoplanets. Both types of missions require propulsion outside the solar system that is an order of magnitude beyond the performance of existing technology. The phase 2 effort will continue to mature TFINER and the mission design. The program will work towards small scale thruster experiments in the near term. In parallel, isotope production paths that can also be leveraged for other space exploration and medical applications will be pursued. Finally, advanced architectures such as an Oberth solar dive maneuver and hybrid approaches that leverage solar sails near the Sun, will be explored to enhance mission performance.
2025 Selections
Facebook logo @NASATechnology @NASA_Technology
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Details
Last Updated May 27, 2025 EditorLoura Hall Related Terms
NIAC Studies NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics
Space Technology Mission Directorate
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts
NIAC Funded Studies
About NIAC
View the full article
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By NASA
Technicians move the Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II test flight out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, May 3, 2025. NASA/Kim Shiflett Engineers, technicians, mission planners, and the four astronauts set to fly around the Moon next year on Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission, are rapidly progressing toward launch.
At the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teams are working around the clock to move into integration and final testing of all SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft elements. Recently they completed two key milestones – connecting the SLS upper stage with the rest of the assembled rocket and moving Orion from its assembly facility to be fueled for flight.
“We’re extremely focused on preparing for Artemis II, and the mission is nearly here,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Moon to Mars Program, who also will chair the mission management team during Artemis II. “This crewed test flight, which will send four humans around the Moon, will inform our future missions to the Moon and Mars.”
Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program begin integrating the interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the SLS (Space Launch System) launch vehicle stage adapter on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA/Isaac Watson On May 1, technicians successfully attached the interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the SLS rocket elements already poised atop mobile launcher 1, including its twin solid rocket boosters and core stage, inside the spaceport’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This portion of the rocket produces 24,750 pounds of thrust for Orion after the rest of the rocket has completed its job. Teams soon will move into a series of integrated tests to ensure all the rocket’s elements are communicating with each other and the Launch Control Center as expected. The tests include verifying interfaces and ensuring SLS systems work properly with the ground systems.
Meanwhile, on May 3, Orion left its metaphorical nest, the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy, where it was assembled and underwent initial testing. There the crew module was outfitted with thousands of parts including critical life support systems for flight and integrated with the service module and crew module adapter. Its next stop on the road to the launch pad is the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, where it will be carefully fueled with propellants, high pressure gases, coolant, and other fluids the spacecraft and its crew need to maneuver in space and carry out the mission.
After fueling is complete, the four astronauts flying on the mission around the Moon and back over the course of approximately 10 days, will board the spacecraft in their Orion Crew Survival System spacesuits to test all the equipment interfaces they will need to operate during the mission. This will mark the first time NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will board their actual spacecraft while wearing their spacesuits. After the crewed testing is complete, technicians will move Orion to Kennedy’s Launch Abort System Facility, where the critical escape system will be added. From there, Orion will move to the VAB to be integrated with the fully assembled rocket.
NASA also announced its second agreement with an international space agency to fly a CubeSat on the mission. The collaborations provide opportunities for other countries to work alongside NASA to integrate and fly technology and experiments as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign.
While engineers at Kennedy integrate and test hardware with their eyes on final preparations for the mission, teams responsible for launching and flying the mission have been busy preparing for a variety of scenarios they could face.
The launch team at Kennedy has completed more than 30 simulations across cryogenic propellant loading and terminal countdown scenarios. The crew has been taking part in simulations for mission scenarios, including with teams in mission control. In April, the crew and the flight control team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston simulated liftoff through a planned manual piloting test together for the first time. The crew also recently conducted long-duration fit checks for their spacesuits and seats, practicing several operations while under various suit pressures.
NASA astronaut Christina Koch participates in a fit check April 18, 2025, in the spacesuit she will wear during Artemis II. NASA/Josh Valcarcel Teams are heading into a busy summer of mission preparations. While hardware checkouts and integration continue, in coming months the crew, flight controllers, and launch controllers will begin practicing their roles in the mission together as part of integrated simulations. In May, the crew will begin participating pre-launch operations and training for emergency scenarios during launch operations at Kennedy and observe a simulation by the launch control team of the terminal countdown portion of launch. In June, recovery teams will rehearse procedures they would use in the case of a pad or ascent abort off the coast of Florida, with launch and flight control teams supporting. The mission management team, responsible for reviewing mission status and risk assessments for issues that arise and making decisions about them, also will begin practicing their roles in simulations. Later this summer, the Orion stage adapter will arrive at the VAB from NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and stacked on top of the rocket.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (foreground) and Victor Glover participate in a simulation of their Artemis II entry profile on March 13, 2025.NASA/Bill Stafford Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
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