The Space Launch System

When NASA's SLS-1 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39-B for the Artemis I mission in early morning hours of November 16, 2022, it culminated more than a decade of intense effort by NASA, its prime contractors and thousands of subcontracted companies across the United States and Europe.

This book ** shares the exciting story of NASA searching for the best human spaceflight vehicle, after the Space Shuttle era, to start a new path of exploration back to the Moon and later to Mars. It covers the preliminary Ares I and Ares V designs from Project Constellation that formed the foundation for SLS. Then in separate chapters it covers the components of the SLS that include the Core Stage with RS-25 engines, the Solid Rocket Boosters, the Upper Stage, and the rocket's payload: the Orion capsule and Service Module. The final chapter is devoted to the successful Artemis I mission.

This book draws from an abundance of available NASA and contractor documents, special interviews, and illustrated photographs in both color and black and white. You will read about the detailed story of the Space Launch System's design engineering, politics, funding battles, and records regarding the manufacturing of NASA's most powerful rocket that will ultimately launch a new era in human exploration beyond Earth's orbit.

Covers the design engineering, manufacturing and testing of each major component of the Space Launch System Documents NASA's complex decision making strategies which resulted in the creation of the Space Launch System Generously illustrates the history of the Space Launch System with black and white and color photographs

Autorentext

Anthony Young is the author of Lunar and Planetary Rovers: The Wheels of Apollo and the Quest for Mars (2007) and The Saturn V F-1 Engine: Powering Apollo into History (2009) both published by Springer. He has been a regular contributor to the online weekly The Space Review since 2004, writing on space policy and commercial space business. Young is founder and president of Personal Spaceflight Advisors LLC, which advises high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals in determining and achieving their goals in suborbital and low-Earth orbital personal spaceflight. He is a graduate of Pratt Institute and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial Design.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: The Constellation Program and the Ares Launch Vehicles.- Chapter 2: The Space Launch System Decision and Block Configurations.- Chapter 3: The SLS Core Stage.- Chapter 4: The SLS Solid Rocket Boosters.- Chapter 5: The SLS Upper Stages.- Chapter 6: The Payload: Orion Crew Capsule and Service Module.- Chapter 7: Changes to KSC for the Space Launch System.- Chapter 8: The Artemis I Mission.