Propellant Tanks for Artemis III on the Move at Michoud - Orion Program Update

Artemis III will return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972 for Lunar Science studies.It is slated for a September 2026 launch.The SLS Core Stage primarily conists of the cryogenic liquid Oxygen and liquid Hydrogen fuel tanks,and is manufactured by Boeing.These were recently welded together at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility,New Orleans,Louisiana.*Boeing (BA)

Orion Program's SLS Rocket Already Being Fabricated;Engine Test Soon

Some components of the Orion Program's new Space Launch System rocket are already being fabricated by a giant tool at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility,New Orleans.Parts of the rocket's engine section and the Core Stage are being welded by the Vertical Weld Center,a massive tool that is three stories high and weighs 150 tons.The barrel that holds the rocket's four RS-25 main engines was completed in November.The VWC will also weld barrel panels together to produce whole barrels for the SLS Core Stage's two pressurised tanks,intertank and forward skirt.*
The SLS will include components that were also part of the Space Shuttle system's hardware.For example,the RS-25 engine was also the Space Shuttle's main engine,and the SLS will utilise the same two solid rocket boosters that the Space Shuttle used as well.An engine firing test was planned to occur before year's end at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Hancock County,Mississippi.An RS-25 engine was placed on the A-1 Test Stand at the Center in November,awaiting final preparation and activation work.*
The Boeing SLS Core Stage contains the rocket's cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant for the main engines.The Core Stage will tower more than 200 feet high and have a diameter of 27.5 feet.*
A new engine controller is being produced for the RS-25 engines.The controller regulates valves that direct the flow of propellant to the engines,which determines the amount of thrust generated during an engine test.Propellant flow and engine thrust determine a spacecraft's speed and trajectory,NASA explains.The engine controller also regulates the engine's start-up sequence and shutdown sequence,critical to the proper operation of the sophisticated RS-25 engine under both normal and emergency conditions.)*
The RS-25 engine is a product of Aerojet Rocketdyne,a division of GenCorp.*
Boeing(BA),GenCorp(GY)

USS Somerset:Last of 9-11 Tribute Ships Christened-memorial warship will transport U.S. Marines

The USS Somerset(LPD 25),the last of three amphibious transport dock ships named after sites affected by the 9-11 terrorist attacks,was christened on Saturday.Mrs.Mary Jo Myers,wife of General Richard B. Myers,U.S. Air Force retired,former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,performed the naval tradition of breaking a bottle of champagne against the new ship's bow at its official naming.Mrs.Myers' participation suggests the closeness of the Navy and Air Force in this era of the Air-Sea Battle Concept and joint basing.
The ceremony was held at  the Avondale shipyard near New Orleans,which is slated to close once the Somerset's final construction is completed.
Somerset County,Pennsylvania was where the passengers of Flight 93 stormed the cockpit in resistance to the terrorists,bringing the plane down in a field there.Twenty-three family members of those who perished in the Somerset County incident attended the christening.The ship includes steel from a crane bucket that was used to recover the Flight 93 wreckage in its bow stem,or leading edge.
The other 9-11 memorial ships are the USS New York(LPD 21) and the USS Arlington(LPD 24).These San Antonio class vessels are for transporting up to 800 U.S. Marines,their equipment and supplies to war zones,unstable regions and humanitarian disaster areas.They have well decks for landing craft and amphibious vehicles,as well as hangars and flight decks for a wide range of helicopters and the Marines' MV-22 Osprey vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.The ships are armed with 2 Mk31 Mod1 RAM launchers;2 Mk46 30mm guns;and 10 .50 caliber machine guns.
Huntington Ingalls Industries built the three memorial ships.Please visit the photo link below this post.
Huntington Ingalls Industries(HII)