Over the past two weeks, NASA has been engaged in lifting and installing a 103-ton interstage simulator component at the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. This effort is part of preparations for upcoming Moon missions. The component was positioned onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand to simulate a section of the Space Launch System (SLS) that will help safeguard the rocket’s upper stage, which is intended to propel the Orion spacecraft during Artemis launches.
The Thad Cochran Test Stand plays a crucial role in the setup and rigorous testing of SLS components to ensure they function safely and as expected in space-bound iterations. The newly installed section on the B-2 position of the test center has been equipped with necessary piping, tubing, and electrical systems for future testing procedures.
The interstage section is designed to protect electrical and propulsion systems while also supporting the SLS’s Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) in the rocket’s Block 1B iteration. This updated design will replace the existing Block 1, offering a 40 percent increase in payload capacity. The EUS will accommodate 38 tons of cargo with a crew or 42 tons without, compared to the Block 1’s 27 tons total. The new EUS will be powered by four RL10 engines manufactured by the contractor L3Harris.
The simulator section, installed in mid-October, weighs 103 tons and measures 31 feet in diameter and 33 feet in height. The top part of this section will absorb the EUS hot fire thrust, channeling it back to the test stand to prevent collapse from the engines’ thrust exceeding 97,000 pounds.
Testing at the Stennis Space Center will ready the SLS for the Artemis IV mission, which aims to send four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft to the Lunar Gateway space station for module installation. Subsequently, the crew will descend to the Moon using the Starship Human Landing System (HLS) lunar lander.
