Huge weld tool nearly complete

NEW ORLEANS -- The 170-foot Vertical Assembly Center (VAC) is near completion and will soon be ready to build the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket in history and designed for deep space missions. VAC is the world's largest spacecraft welding tool, part of a family of tools at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility designed to build the core stage. The core stage will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle's RS-25 engines, which will be tested at nearby Stennis Space Center, Miss. The core stage, comprised of the forward skirt, the liquid oxygen tank, the intertank, the liquid hydrogen tank and the engine section, recently passed its critical design review. (Source: Space Travel, 07/23/14) Previous

Airline picks Trent 7000

Hawaiian Airlines selected six Airbus A330-800neo aircraft powered by the newly-launched Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engine. The new aircraft will replace six A350-800 aircraft that the airline has on order. The Trent engine family has accumulated more than 75 million flight hours over the last 19 years. Each member of the Trent engine family has been either the market leader, aircraft launch engine, or both. Trent engines are tested at the Rolls-Royce outdoor test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Source: Rolls-Royce, 07/23/14) Previous

RS-25 for SLS on test stand

RS-25 installed on A-1 stand. NASA photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – In a key milestone in NASA's Space Launch System program, an RS-25 engine was installed Thursday on the A-1 Test Stand. The team at NASA's Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi will perform developmental and flight certification testing of the engine, No. 0525, a modified version of the space shuttle main engine that powered missions into space from 1981 to 2011. The SLS core stage will be powered by four RS-25 engines. Early tests on the engine will collect data on the performance of its new advanced engine controller and other modifications. (Source: NASA, 07/17/14) The core stage of the SLS is being built at Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans.

Hancock honors SpaceX

SpaceX will receive an economic development award from the Hancock County Port & Harbor Commission, the county’s economic development authority. Ashley Edwards, the commission's executive director, will present the Industrial Award of Excellence to officials from SpaceX during the Hancock Chamber Annual Awards Gala Aug. 21 at Hollywood Casino. SpaceX, one of the nation's commercial space companies, was the first to private company to successfully resupply the International Space Station. SpaceX, which wants to fly missions deeper into space, is testing subscale components at SSC, where it's also doing R&D on its next generation Raptor engine. (Source: Partners for Stennis, 07/16/14)

Cygnus heads to ISS

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. – Fresh supplies and research experiments began a three-day journey to the International Space Station on Sunday after a successful launch atop an Antares rocket. The rocket took off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at 12:52 p.m. EDT. The commercial Orbital Sciences Cygnus supply ship will complete the cargo delivery Wednesday with an automated approach to the space station. The Antares rocket is powered by twin Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 engines, which are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Source: Spaceflight Now, 07/14/14)

Airbus picks Trent 7000

Rolls-Royce today announced that Airbus picked the new Trent 7000 as the exclusive engine for the Airbus A330neo. The Trent 7000, launched today, is the seventh member of the Trent engine family. Over the last 19 years, Rolls-Royce Trent engines have accumulated more than 75 million flight hours. The majority of modern widebody aircraft, either in service or on order, are powered by Trent engines. (Source: Rolls-Royce, 07/14/14) Rolls-Royce tests Trent engines at its outdoor facility at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Linde gets NASA contract

NASA has awarded a contract to Linde LLC to supply liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen to six of its research/space flight centers, including Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. The contract calls for Linde to supply over 360,000 tons of liquid nitrogen and some 64,000 tons of liquid oxygen to support operations. Other centers covered by the contract are Glenn Research Center, Ohio; Goddard Space Flight Center, Md.; Johnson Space Center, Texas; and Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala. Nitrogen is used by the agency for pneumatic actuation, purging and inerting, pressurization, and for its cooling value. Oxygen is used as an oxidizer in cryogenic rocket engines. (Source: Linde via PRNewswire, 07/07/14)

Geocent gets Tibbetts award

Geocent, an information technology and engineering firm headquartered in Metairie, La., has received a Tibbetts Award for its work done on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects. The award recognizes an organization's contributions as a model of excellence for the SBIR program. Individuals and companies are selected for providing outstanding leadership in a state, across a region, or across the nation. Geocent has an office at Stennis Space Center, Miss., and is a tenant of the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology. (Source: Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions, 07/01/14)

Boeing, NASA sign SLS pact

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Boeing finalized a contract with NASA to develop the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built. The $2.8 billion contract validates Boeing's earlier selection as prime contractor on the SLS core stage, including avionics, under an undefinitized contract authorization. In addition, Boeing will study the SLS Exploration Upper Stage, which will further expand mission range and payload capabilities. The agreement comes as NASA and Boeing complete the Critical Design Review (CDR) on the core stage, the last major review before full production begins. During the CDR, experts examined and confirmed the final design of the rocket's cryogenic stages that will hold liquefied hydrogen and oxygen. It's NASA's first CDR on a deep-space human exploration launch vehicle since 1961, when the Saturn V rocket underwent a similar review. (Source: Boeing, 07/02/14) Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, is building the core stage and the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle, part of the SLS program; Stennis Space Center, Miss., tests the SLS engines.

J-2X testing completed

Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed its final J-2X test series at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss. Over three years Aerojet Rocketdyne teams manufactured, assembled, and tested four newly developed engine test articles that achieved an accumulated duration of nearly five hours firing time and demonstrated full power operation for twice its designed life service. The liquid-oxygen/liquid-hydrogen fueled engine is designed to start at altitude and re-start in space as part of a second or third stage of a large, multi-stage launch vehicle. With its full nozzle extension installed, the J-2X is more than 15 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter at its base and weighs 5,400 pounds. The engine is one of several options being considered to power the upper stage of NASA's future 130-metric-ton Space Launch System, designed to launch crew and cargo to deep space destinations. Aerojet Rocketdyne is a GenCorp company. (Source: Product Design and Development, 06/30/14)