NASA deep-space rocket,SLS,set for blast off in 2018
The US space agency's powerful deep-space rocket, known as the space launch system (SLS) aims
to blast off for the first time in 2018, NASA said wednesday.
.jpg)
The SLS has been in development for three years already, and when finished it should propel spacecraft beyond Earth's orbit and eventually launch crew vehicles to Mars by the 2030s.
NASA has now completed a thorough review of the project, signifying formal space agency commitment to the 70 tonne version of the SLS at a cost of $7 billion from 2014 to 2018. "The programme is making real, significant process," said william gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA.
"We will keep the teams working toward a more ambitious readiness date, but be ready no later than November 2018."
The Government Account ability Office (GAO), however issued a report last month that called into questions the spce's agency's current funding plan for SLS, saying it "may be $400 million short of what the program needs."
The GAO also raised concerns about the development schedule and how Enginneers will intigrate hardware that was designed to fly on a cancelled NASA programme known as constellation that would have returned Humans to the Moon.
Gerstenmaier said NASA was talking those concerns into account and is seeking to address the GAO's recommendations.
The SLS is NASA's First heavyears, and the space agency has estimated total costs in developing the first of three SLS variants at $12 billion.
The SLS will "provide an unprecedented lift capability of 130 tonnes, which will enable missions even farther into our solar system, including such destinations as an asteroid and Mars,"NASA said.
The US space agency's powerful deep-space rocket, known as the space launch system (SLS) aims
to blast off for the first time in 2018, NASA said wednesday.
The SLS has been in development for three years already, and when finished it should propel spacecraft beyond Earth's orbit and eventually launch crew vehicles to Mars by the 2030s.
NASA has now completed a thorough review of the project, signifying formal space agency commitment to the 70 tonne version of the SLS at a cost of $7 billion from 2014 to 2018. "The programme is making real, significant process," said william gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA.
"We will keep the teams working toward a more ambitious readiness date, but be ready no later than November 2018."
The Government Account ability Office (GAO), however issued a report last month that called into questions the spce's agency's current funding plan for SLS, saying it "may be $400 million short of what the program needs."
The GAO also raised concerns about the development schedule and how Enginneers will intigrate hardware that was designed to fly on a cancelled NASA programme known as constellation that would have returned Humans to the Moon.
Gerstenmaier said NASA was talking those concerns into account and is seeking to address the GAO's recommendations.
The SLS is NASA's First heavyears, and the space agency has estimated total costs in developing the first of three SLS variants at $12 billion.
The SLS will "provide an unprecedented lift capability of 130 tonnes, which will enable missions even farther into our solar system, including such destinations as an asteroid and Mars,"NASA said.
No comments:
Post a Comment