NASA Artemis Mission Advances with a Test Flight of the SpaceX Starship

NASA is collaborating with SpaceX to develop the Starship human landing system (HLS), which will land astronauts close to the Moon's South Pole during the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions, as part of NASA's Artemis campaign to return humans to the Moon for the benefit of all. The third combined flight test of SpaceX's Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage was launched on March 14. This was a significant step toward supplying NASA with a Starship HLS for its Artemis missions.

At 8:25 a.m. CDT, the company's Starbase orbital launch pad fired up 33 Raptor engines, which propelled the Super Heavy rocket with Starship piled on top. The engines were powered by super-cooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Six Raptor engines propelled the starship away from the According to the flight plan, the Super Heavy booster fires its engines before separating, usually three minutes into the flight. This is done via a hot-staging approach. This was the combined Super Heavy-Starship system's third flying test.

"SpaceX tries to set more and more challenging goals for Starship with every flight test in an effort to gather as much information as possible for the development of future mission systems. According to Lisa Watson-Morgan, HLS Program Manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, "being able to test critical systems and processes in flight scenarios like these integrated tests allows both NASA and SpaceX to gather crucial data needed for the continued development of Starship HLS."

Several significant firsts were achieved in this test, which will help with the development of Starship for the Artemis lunar landing missions. After reaching its planned orbit, Starship finished its ascending burn in its entirety.

The transfer of thousands of pounds of cryogenic propellant between internal tanks during the spacecraft's coast phase is one goal that is directly related to future Artemis operations. This goal is part of NASA's Space Technology Missions Directorate 2020 Tipping Point awards. After the propellant transfer demonstration operations were over, the NASA-SpaceX team is examining the obtained flight data. NASA is working on more than 20 development projects to address the issues associated with deploying cryogenic fluids on upcoming missions, including this Tipping Point technology demonstration.

Engineers will examine flight test data to evaluate thruster performance as a crucial first step in comprehending how super-cooled propellant sloshes within the tanks when the engines cut off and how that movement impacts Starship's stability while in orbit.that regulate the Starship's spatial orientation. Additionally, they are curious to find out more about how the movement of the fluid within the tanks may be adjusted to optimize the efficiency of propellant transfer and guarantee that the Raptor engines receive the propellant conditions required to enable restart in orbit.

Jeremy Kenny, project manager for NASA's Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio at Marshall, stated that there has never been an attempt to store and transport cryogenic propellant in orbit on this scale. But for science and exploration trips to the Moon, Mars, and even farther into our solar system, this is a game-changing technology that needs to be developed and perfected.

NASA will prepare for human missions to Mars by landing the first woman, first person of color, and first astronaut from an international partner nation on the moon as part of the Artemis campaign. Along with the Space Launch System rocket, Orion ship, sophisticated spacesuits and rovers, exploration ground systems, and the Gateway space station, commercial human landing systems are essential to deep space exploration.

On March 14, at 8:25 a.m. CT, SpaceX launched the third integrated flight test of its Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage from the company's orbital launch pad, Starbase. A significant step has been taken with this flight test in the direction of giving NASA a Starship HLS for the Artemis missions.

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