NASA Artemis IX Moon Rocket Booster Motor Testing | NASA Marshall

NASA Artemis IX Moon Rocket Booster Motor Testing | NASA Marshall

Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, completed a subscale booster motor test Sept. 14, 2023, in Marshall’s East Test Area. The 24-inch booster produced more than 82,000 pounds of thrust. It is the third test in an ongoing series supporting development of an upgraded booster design with alternative nozzle and insulation materials for SLS (Space Launch System) flights after Artemis VIII. Marshall manages the SLS Program.

Beginning with Artemis IX, the SLS rocket in its Block 2 configuration will use the BOLE (booster obsolescence and life extension) booster. The more powerful solid rocket motor will give the SLS rocket the capability to send even heavier payloads to the Moon and other areas of deep space for future Artemis missions.

The SLS solid rocket boosters are the largest, most powerful boosters ever built for spaceflight. They produce more than 75% of total thrust for the first two minutes of flight.

NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.

For information about the Space Launch System, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html

https://www.nasa.gov/sls

Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Duration: 1 minute, 18 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 19, 2023

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