Not a new word in astronautics: what kind of new rocket has NASA prepared for flights to the moon

NASA is preparing to launch a hugeSLS rocket (Project Artemis I). The launch itself may take place as early as May this year. Probably, the vehicles that will fly to Mars will be created on the basis of this rocket. What do you need to know about her?

First of all, it is the only rocket thatwill be able to send the Orion spacecraft to lunar orbit. And if you really try, then even further. Orion will be attached to the nose of the rocket. There, according to the project, four astronauts will be able to stay there, who will have a very long journey: they will have to live, eat, sleep, and work there.

The rocket itself is almost 100 meters high.For comparison, the Lakhta Center, the tallest building in Russia, is 462 meters high. But the British Big Ben is lower than the SLS. However, the rocket is below the Saturn V, which the agency used to send astronauts to the moon.
At the same time, the rocket is much more powerful.It produces 15% more thrust than its predecessor, and this is not the limit. Essentially, the four main engines in a rocket can keep eight Boeing 747s in the air.

Despite the fact that the rocket, although it seemsultra-modern, in fact, it is based on the developments of the Space Shuttle. The project worked from 1981 to 2011, and therefore, in general, it cannot be said that the rocket was built on the latest developments. But is it bad when new technologies contain old ones in their core?

Here, of course, politics also played a role. The US Congress did not allow the development of a rocket from scratch: it is too expensive.

She is also lightweight.In order to fly almost 400 km to the Moon, engineers had to remove reusable boosters, parachutes, spare fuel and landing sensors from the design. That is, in this way, the rocket will be disposable. But then Orion will be able to accelerate to a speed of 40 thousand kilometers per hour, and thus enter the lunar trajectory.

This rocket also has the resources toin order to develop in the future for the direct tasks of future Artemis I missions. For example, the first assembly will have four main engines that can deliver 26 tons of cargo to lunar orbit.

In addition, most of the rocket's thrust willbe provided with a pair of solid-fuel boosters and liquid-fuel engines. After leaving the Earth's atmosphere, the last rocket booster - an intermediate cryogenic propulsion stage - sends the Orion capsule to the Moon. This is the configuration that NASA plans to use for the first three Artemis missions, including the moon landings.
Then there will be configurations with a powerful upper stage that can carry up to 40 tons of cargo. And then to fifty.

The rocket as a whole is not to say that a new word in world cosmonautics. However, it is she who will again deliver a man to the moon, and then, possibly, to Mars.