Sharjah24 – Reuters: NASA plans to launch its massive new SLS rocket for an unmanned test mission around the moon later this year.
The first version of the SLS will tower 23 storeys above the launch pad. Its core stage houses two large storage tanks, one for liquid hydrogen, and another for the liquid oxygen that makes the hydrogen burn. These liquids are fed into the engine chambers and ignited with a spark, where the chemical reaction produces vast amounts of energy and steam. The core stage has four RS-25 engines, the same ones that powered the space shuttle. The steam exits the engine nozzles at high speed, generating enough thrust to push the giant into space.
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