NASA and Northrop Grumman conducted a full-scale rocket engine test Wednesday (Sept. 2), dubbed the Flight Support Booster-1 (FSB-1), that will power Project Artemis’ first mission to the moon.
During field tests at Northrop Grumman’s Promontory, Utah, site, the 47-meter-tall booster was fixed horizontally to the ground and ignited for just over two minutes to generate 1.6 million kilograms of thrust.
NASA and Grumman will use the data from this test to evaluate the performance of the engine, which may be combined with potentially new materials and processes in future boosters, and NASA has contracted with Grumman to build boosters for future rocket flights.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which will use two similar boosters, is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built. NASA says the SLS is the only rocket capable of transporting spacecraft, Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies to the moon in a single mission.
NASA plans to send the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface by 2024 and explore Mars in the mid-2030s.
The success of the test lays the groundwork for an unmanned launch planned for next year at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, with a manned launch to take place in 2023.
In Greek mythology, Artemis is the moon goddess and twin sister of Apollo, the sun god.
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