1 00:00:01,397 --> 00:00:04,191 (futuristic dramatic music) 2 00:00:04,191 --> 00:00:07,770 (rocket engines sizzling) 3 00:00:07,770 --> 00:00:10,160 NASA certainly was the shiny light, 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,910 the benchmark of American aspirations in the '60s. 5 00:00:13,910 --> 00:00:17,470 The large Saturn V rocket, the Lunar Rover, 6 00:00:17,470 --> 00:00:18,623 the little moon buggy, 7 00:00:19,550 --> 00:00:22,930 all of that was something that I wanted to do 8 00:00:22,930 --> 00:00:24,690 when I got older. 9 00:00:24,690 --> 00:00:26,743 I wanted to put people on the moon. 10 00:00:27,816 --> 00:00:28,680 I wanted to put people on Mars. 11 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,030 We leave as we came, 12 00:00:31,030 --> 00:00:33,183 and God willing as we shall return. 13 00:00:34,410 --> 00:00:39,120 I joined NASA in 1976 during the early development 14 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:40,720 of the Space Shuttle Program. 15 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:41,553 Preflare maneuvering 16 00:00:41,553 --> 00:00:42,690 will pull the nose up a little bit, 17 00:00:42,690 --> 00:00:44,230 right before it hits the runway. 18 00:00:44,230 --> 00:00:47,290 The Space Shuttle became that goal of low-costs 19 00:00:47,290 --> 00:00:48,963 to low Earth orbit. 20 00:00:50,610 --> 00:00:52,640 I always felt like it was an interim period 21 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:53,861 in our history. 22 00:00:53,861 --> 00:00:56,520 (rocket engines blasting) 23 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:01,520 To me, NASA's role was always to go deep into space. 24 00:01:04,890 --> 00:01:08,404 Thank you. (audience clapping) 25 00:01:08,404 --> 00:01:09,790 A little more than 40 years ago, 26 00:01:09,790 --> 00:01:12,560 astronauts descended the nine rung ladder 27 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:14,500 of the lunar module called LEM. 28 00:01:14,500 --> 00:01:18,752 When President Obama made the announcement in 2010 29 00:01:18,752 --> 00:01:20,000 that NASA's role is deep space. 30 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:21,080 The question for us now 31 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,100 is whether that was the beginning of something 32 00:01:24,100 --> 00:01:25,070 or the end of something? 33 00:01:25,070 --> 00:01:26,450 We were all excited. 34 00:01:26,450 --> 00:01:28,943 I choose to believe it was only the beginning. 35 00:01:30,180 --> 00:01:31,390 It's definitely a Kennedy moment 36 00:01:31,390 --> 00:01:33,737 when you can say, "We're gonna do 37 00:01:33,737 --> 00:01:35,367 "something that's never been done before, 38 00:01:35,367 --> 00:01:37,940 "not only go to the moon, but onto Mars." 39 00:01:37,940 --> 00:01:41,850 I was in high school when Barack Obama made the speech. 40 00:01:41,850 --> 00:01:45,690 So for me, I looked at it as an opportunity 41 00:01:45,690 --> 00:01:48,580 to be able to have my footprint 42 00:01:48,580 --> 00:01:50,403 in human exploration history. 43 00:01:52,860 --> 00:01:55,110 Permanent presence on the moon, 44 00:01:55,110 --> 00:01:58,160 people have dreamed of this for years. 45 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,450 The Obama decision kind of lit a little fire 46 00:02:00,450 --> 00:02:02,053 that has gotten bigger. 47 00:02:03,630 --> 00:02:05,870 Going back to the moon and going to Mars, 48 00:02:05,870 --> 00:02:08,630 that's my generation of engineers who are gonna be 49 00:02:08,630 --> 00:02:10,953 the pioneers to send humans to Mars. 50 00:02:11,884 --> 00:02:14,380 (dramatic music) 51 00:02:14,380 --> 00:02:17,590 For some of us that have only known low Earth orbit, 52 00:02:17,590 --> 00:02:19,633 it was a daunting idea. 53 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:22,410 It told us that we were gonna need 54 00:02:22,410 --> 00:02:24,623 a tremendously large rocket. 55 00:02:24,623 --> 00:02:26,540 (dramatic music) 56 00:02:26,540 --> 00:02:30,673 The magnitude, both in power and in size. 57 00:02:31,850 --> 00:02:34,827 Not just heavy lift, but super heavy lift. 58 00:02:34,827 --> 00:02:36,600 (rocket engines blasting) 59 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,820 It's NASA, most powerful rocket ever, 60 00:02:39,820 --> 00:02:41,780 a machine built to allow humanity 61 00:02:41,780 --> 00:02:43,823 to explore the moon and beyond. 62 00:02:45,468 --> 00:02:46,301 (upbeat music) 63 00:02:46,301 --> 00:02:50,577 This is the story of the mighty Space Launch System, or SLS. 64 00:02:51,536 --> 00:02:53,540 (dramatic music) 65 00:02:53,540 --> 00:02:57,821 With a Space Launch System, the stars are our destination. 66 00:02:57,821 --> 00:03:00,130 (dramatic music) 67 00:03:00,130 --> 00:03:03,000 But we haven't developed anything like SLS 68 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,651 in, literally, 40 years. 69 00:03:05,651 --> 00:03:06,970 (dramatic music) (rocket engines blasting) 70 00:03:06,970 --> 00:03:08,997 And so we're having to start from scratch on, 71 00:03:08,997 --> 00:03:10,127 "Hey, how do we get to the moon? 72 00:03:10,127 --> 00:03:11,521 "What do we need?" 73 00:03:11,521 --> 00:03:13,000 (dramatic music) (rocket engines blasting) 74 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,240 The questions that arise are, 75 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:19,083 who has the expertise even to do the same thing, 76 00:03:20,010 --> 00:03:22,347 but also to do it better or differently? 77 00:03:22,347 --> 00:03:25,097 (dramatic music) 78 00:03:36,014 --> 00:03:39,357 (pondering music) 79 00:03:39,357 --> 00:03:41,720 July, 2013, 80 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:46,000 NASA has preliminary plans for the Space Launch System, 81 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,140 a rocket designed initially to take astronauts 82 00:03:49,140 --> 00:03:50,970 back to the moon on a mission 83 00:03:50,970 --> 00:03:53,373 that will come to be called Artemis. 84 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,580 Engineers need to create a machine that surpasses 85 00:03:57,580 --> 00:03:59,750 the legendary Saturn V, 86 00:03:59,750 --> 00:04:02,250 the rocket that launched the Apollo moon missions. 87 00:04:03,100 --> 00:04:05,410 But no one has built a rocket that powerful 88 00:04:05,410 --> 00:04:06,992 in over 40 years. 89 00:04:06,992 --> 00:04:09,825 (pondering music) 90 00:04:11,170 --> 00:04:14,600 We had nobody that had hands-on experience 91 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,303 of a rocket like that. 92 00:04:18,090 --> 00:04:21,230 But we had a young cadre of engineers 93 00:04:21,230 --> 00:04:24,083 who really wanted to get their hands dirty. 94 00:04:25,470 --> 00:04:28,620 We really didn't have a lot of hands-on experience 95 00:04:28,620 --> 00:04:30,720 in working with these large scale engines. 96 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,590 So one of the ideas they had was to take apart 97 00:04:35,590 --> 00:04:38,880 a Saturn V first stage engine. 98 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,900 This new F1 must perform perfectly, 99 00:04:41,900 --> 00:04:44,860 for more than just time and money are involved: 100 00:04:44,860 --> 00:04:46,863 men's lives will depend on it. 101 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,160 Why don't we go get one of the F1 engines 102 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,470 out of the Smithsonian and a tear it down 103 00:04:54,470 --> 00:04:55,713 and reverse engineer it. 104 00:04:57,350 --> 00:04:58,817 We just said, "Hey, let's get a big crane 105 00:04:58,817 --> 00:05:00,147 "and let's pick it up and go put it 106 00:05:00,147 --> 00:05:02,757 "into a big building and let's start taking it apart 107 00:05:02,757 --> 00:05:05,478 "and seeing what made it tick?" 108 00:05:05,478 --> 00:05:08,400 (pondering music) 109 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,320 It did have a few pieces of bubblegum 110 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,680 from being in the museum and some kids walking by 111 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,020 and sticking some bubblegum on the side of it, 112 00:05:15,020 --> 00:05:16,920 but it was still in really good shape. 113 00:05:18,149 --> 00:05:21,410 (pondering music) 114 00:05:21,410 --> 00:05:24,860 When we started to dig into it and take it apart 115 00:05:24,860 --> 00:05:26,970 there was still kerosine, there was still rocket fuel 116 00:05:26,970 --> 00:05:30,200 left in it from when it was tested back in the '60s. 117 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,650 So to touch it, to smell it, 118 00:05:33,650 --> 00:05:36,590 to get the soot that was still on the turbine blades, 119 00:05:36,590 --> 00:05:40,653 it was just a, it just hit every sense in your body. 120 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,980 The pride that someone had put into making these complicated 121 00:05:46,980 --> 00:05:50,033 and difficult welds, and they were all done by hand. 122 00:05:52,030 --> 00:05:53,440 To me as an engineer, 123 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,480 if you wanna look at how well something's made 124 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:57,640 you go look the welds, 125 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,977 and every one of those on those rockets is flawless. 126 00:06:01,977 --> 00:06:04,810 (pondering music) 127 00:06:06,790 --> 00:06:09,290 What we ended up with, really, 128 00:06:09,290 --> 00:06:14,290 is a team of hands-on engineers that were young 129 00:06:14,830 --> 00:06:16,220 and not ready to retire, 130 00:06:16,220 --> 00:06:19,100 and they wanted to go actually do this. 131 00:06:20,630 --> 00:06:23,470 Saturn V may have been the inspiration, 132 00:06:23,470 --> 00:06:26,070 but for most of the SLS design, 133 00:06:26,070 --> 00:06:28,723 NASA turns to a more recent launch system. 134 00:06:30,870 --> 00:06:34,360 The Space Launch System is a combination of new and old, 135 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:36,590 and actually quite a bit of old. 136 00:06:36,590 --> 00:06:39,170 And the Shuttle has cleared the tower. 137 00:06:39,170 --> 00:06:41,910 Legacy parts inherited were not just 138 00:06:41,910 --> 00:06:43,160 from the Apollo program, 139 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:44,730 but actually from the Shuttle era, 140 00:06:44,730 --> 00:06:47,618 which, I think, is maybe more relevant. 141 00:06:47,618 --> 00:06:51,118 (rocket engines blasting) 142 00:06:53,530 --> 00:06:58,010 Saturn V is the grandparent of SLS 143 00:06:58,010 --> 00:06:59,663 and Space Shuttle is the parent. 144 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,020 SLS will use modified 145 00:07:04,020 --> 00:07:07,440 Space Shuttle main engines and enlarge versions 146 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,960 of it's Solid Rocket Boosters, pushing them to the limit, 147 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:13,073 using modern digital technology. 148 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:16,170 We have taken the Space Shuttle, 149 00:07:16,170 --> 00:07:18,660 we've taken the orbiter off of the side of it, 150 00:07:18,660 --> 00:07:21,710 we've put the orbiter's engines under the bottom 151 00:07:21,710 --> 00:07:22,760 of the vehicle. 152 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,080 We've lengthened the Solid Rocket Booster, 153 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,482 and we've stretched the tank to get more fuel on board. 154 00:07:28,482 --> 00:07:31,232 (dramatic music) 155 00:07:32,570 --> 00:07:34,380 It sounds really simple, 156 00:07:34,380 --> 00:07:35,570 (dramatic music) 157 00:07:35,570 --> 00:07:39,423 but there was much more complexity to doing that 158 00:07:39,423 --> 00:07:41,862 than first meets the eye. 159 00:07:41,862 --> 00:07:45,270 (dramatic music) 160 00:07:45,270 --> 00:07:46,920 With a new team in place 161 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,225 engineering for SLS is underway, 162 00:07:49,225 --> 00:07:50,058 (engines firing) 163 00:07:50,058 --> 00:07:53,830 and the first step is an essential data gathering mission. 164 00:07:53,830 --> 00:07:57,000 How do we use parts that were intended for one purpose 165 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,063 and apply them in a different environment? 166 00:08:01,550 --> 00:08:04,683 Air dynamics is a huge part of building any launch vehicle. 167 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:08,750 We do test models in wind tunnels 168 00:08:08,750 --> 00:08:11,137 up to around 13-feet long. 169 00:08:11,137 --> 00:08:14,387 (light dramatic music) 170 00:08:17,141 --> 00:08:17,974 (dramatic music) 171 00:08:17,974 --> 00:08:20,920 One of the key areas we test first is this area of flow 172 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,730 that we call transonic, and shockwave start to occur. 173 00:08:25,730 --> 00:08:28,180 This compression of air molecules at different parts 174 00:08:28,180 --> 00:08:29,013 of the rocket. 175 00:08:29,972 --> 00:08:31,070 (dramatic music) 176 00:08:31,070 --> 00:08:36,070 One of the complexities of SLS is due to its extreme size, 177 00:08:36,750 --> 00:08:41,213 the larger the structure, the lower its natural frequencies. 178 00:08:42,558 --> 00:08:44,310 (dramatic music) 179 00:08:44,310 --> 00:08:46,630 When you go through the transonic region, 180 00:08:46,630 --> 00:08:50,513 shocks are trying to form on the side of the vehicle. 181 00:08:50,513 --> 00:08:52,380 (upbeat music) 182 00:08:52,380 --> 00:08:56,040 Then you have to worry about coupling up that dynamic 183 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:57,970 with the natural frequency of the vehicle. 184 00:08:57,970 --> 00:08:59,480 And when I say coupling, 185 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:04,400 I mean that the frequency at which I'm pulsing it, 186 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,970 is also the frequency that the structure wants to respond, 187 00:09:07,970 --> 00:09:11,920 and so they're having a good time with each other. 188 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,470 In the engineering world, positive reinforcement 189 00:09:14,470 --> 00:09:16,151 is usually bad. 190 00:09:16,151 --> 00:09:19,870 (rocket engines blasting) 191 00:09:19,870 --> 00:09:23,070 Those kinds of dynamics you can literally break things, 192 00:09:23,070 --> 00:09:26,930 you can cause pulses that even influence 193 00:09:26,930 --> 00:09:29,223 the thrust of the rocket engine. 194 00:09:30,650 --> 00:09:32,790 Using a combination of aerodynamic 195 00:09:32,790 --> 00:09:37,173 and acoustic testing engineers reach a troubling conclusion. 196 00:09:38,250 --> 00:09:40,670 Early on we realized that these parts 197 00:09:40,670 --> 00:09:43,120 that we inherited from the Legacy Shuttle Program 198 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,682 really were not capable of flying through transonic. 199 00:09:46,682 --> 00:09:49,432 (dramatic music) 200 00:09:50,450 --> 00:09:54,090 Rocket components are not universal. 201 00:09:54,090 --> 00:09:56,620 They're all designed and optimized 202 00:09:56,620 --> 00:09:59,223 for the vehicle that they are built for. 203 00:10:00,810 --> 00:10:03,300 Space Launch System has four engines, 204 00:10:03,300 --> 00:10:05,640 the Shuttle only had three engines. 205 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:06,600 Space Shuttle had them 206 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:08,880 on the back of the actual plane itself. 207 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:10,370 For Space Launch System, 208 00:10:10,370 --> 00:10:12,513 we put them at the bottom of the borough. 209 00:10:12,513 --> 00:10:14,440 (dramatic music) 210 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:16,330 So on Space Launch System now, 211 00:10:16,330 --> 00:10:17,990 those components are gonna experience 212 00:10:17,990 --> 00:10:20,690 much more violent vibrations. 213 00:10:20,690 --> 00:10:23,380 So the size requires, as a propulsion engineer, 214 00:10:23,380 --> 00:10:25,160 requires us to make sure that those parts 215 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,283 can withstand the new vibration, the new loads. 216 00:10:29,660 --> 00:10:32,200 We took those original components from the Space Shuttle, 217 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,210 and we had to make them thicker and beefier 218 00:10:34,210 --> 00:10:37,120 to deal with the weight and the structural movements 219 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,569 and the size of the Space Launch System. 220 00:10:39,569 --> 00:10:42,319 (dramatic music) 221 00:10:46,146 --> 00:10:48,979 (pondering music) 222 00:10:51,140 --> 00:10:53,180 Beginning in 2013, 223 00:10:53,180 --> 00:10:56,000 the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, 224 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,500 a vital part of the Space Shuttle Program 225 00:10:58,500 --> 00:11:02,173 must be extensively refitted to cope with the size of SLS. 226 00:11:04,910 --> 00:11:07,370 But by November, 2014, 227 00:11:07,370 --> 00:11:10,310 the first pieces of the SLS core stage 228 00:11:10,310 --> 00:11:11,810 are coming out of the factory. 229 00:11:12,663 --> 00:11:15,430 (upbeat music) 230 00:11:15,430 --> 00:11:18,800 The 8.4 meter diameter is exactly the diameter 231 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,890 of the external tank on Space Shuttle, 232 00:11:21,890 --> 00:11:24,923 but we've stretched the tank to get more fuel on board. 233 00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:29,620 The core stage diameter is the same as what we flew 234 00:11:29,620 --> 00:11:33,290 on Shuttle, but that was really not driven 235 00:11:33,290 --> 00:11:35,180 as much by vehicle architecture 236 00:11:35,180 --> 00:11:38,550 as by taking advantage of existing tooling 237 00:11:38,550 --> 00:11:40,990 and infrastructure capabilities. 238 00:11:40,990 --> 00:11:42,700 If I can use the same machines, 239 00:11:42,700 --> 00:11:44,150 I don't have to buy new ones. 240 00:11:45,870 --> 00:11:47,720 The core stage is the biggest stage 241 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:49,690 that we've ever built, and in fact, 242 00:11:49,690 --> 00:11:51,560 the hydrogen tank is the biggest tank 243 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:52,423 we've ever built. 244 00:11:54,300 --> 00:11:56,130 Each tank is made in sections, 245 00:11:56,130 --> 00:11:59,603 joined together by a technique called friction stir welding, 246 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,410 a spinning tool heats up the metal of the two edges 247 00:12:03,410 --> 00:12:06,300 until they become soft and stirs them together 248 00:12:06,300 --> 00:12:07,403 like mixing dough. 249 00:12:09,060 --> 00:12:12,060 The resultant joint is strong and light, 250 00:12:12,060 --> 00:12:15,610 but refining the process to ensure defect-free welds 251 00:12:15,610 --> 00:12:16,673 was a challenge. 252 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,550 We pushed the technology of friction stir welding 253 00:12:22,550 --> 00:12:23,750 with this tank. 254 00:12:23,750 --> 00:12:26,833 I don't think anybody's ever seen anything like it before. 255 00:12:27,751 --> 00:12:30,834 (light upbeat music) 256 00:12:32,620 --> 00:12:35,500 With SLS, NASA is pushing at the limits 257 00:12:35,500 --> 00:12:38,730 of what is possible because there's a fundamental reality 258 00:12:38,730 --> 00:12:40,413 that governs all rockets. 259 00:12:41,772 --> 00:12:43,530 (rocket engines blasting) 260 00:12:43,530 --> 00:12:45,653 You have this thing called gravity, 261 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:52,200 yet, we have to overcome that and go beyond. 262 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:56,320 Behind every aspect of the SLS design 263 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:58,293 is a single mathematical formula. 264 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:03,220 In order to understand how a rocket actually works 265 00:13:03,220 --> 00:13:04,830 we have the the rocket equation. 266 00:13:04,830 --> 00:13:07,470 Oh, to me, the rocket equation, 267 00:13:07,470 --> 00:13:09,790 you know, you might as well just tattoo that on my arm. 268 00:13:09,790 --> 00:13:11,590 It's what makes makes all this work. 269 00:13:12,535 --> 00:13:17,535 (rocket engines blasting) (dramatic music) 270 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:21,330 You're looking at the incremental effects 271 00:13:21,330 --> 00:13:24,990 of how you're releasing mass in order to achieve 272 00:13:24,990 --> 00:13:26,283 an escape velocity. 273 00:13:28,620 --> 00:13:31,050 You know, it's Newton's law: reaction and reaction, 274 00:13:31,050 --> 00:13:33,240 you're throwing out at fast speeds 275 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:34,993 a lot of dense propellant. 276 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:38,790 You wanna take your mass and you accelerate it, 277 00:13:38,790 --> 00:13:40,290 then it produces force, right. 278 00:13:43,150 --> 00:13:46,360 The real crux of the matter of the rocket equation 279 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:50,643 is I want most of the weight of my vehicle to be propellant. 280 00:13:53,630 --> 00:13:56,010 It puts you in a little bit of a box 281 00:13:56,010 --> 00:13:59,440 because I'm trying to get more and more fuel on board 282 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:02,063 that my tanks are getting bigger and bigger. 283 00:14:03,450 --> 00:14:06,563 Now I'm fighting the weight of the structure itself. 284 00:14:07,590 --> 00:14:12,000 Every ounce of weight that I change greatly impacts 285 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:13,883 the bottom line of the rocket. 286 00:14:15,370 --> 00:14:17,800 There is a risk you'd have a vehicle that's too heavy 287 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:19,460 and might not have enough propellant. 288 00:14:19,460 --> 00:14:21,420 And the rocket equation would get you again, 289 00:14:21,420 --> 00:14:23,920 and you'd run out of steam before you got to orbit 290 00:14:26,700 --> 00:14:27,830 The rocket equation, you know, 291 00:14:27,830 --> 00:14:30,500 the part that we focus on is the part we can control, right, 292 00:14:30,500 --> 00:14:31,750 it's a physics-based equation, 293 00:14:31,750 --> 00:14:34,970 and so we can control the fuel economy 294 00:14:36,610 --> 00:14:39,320 and how do we optimize the mass? 295 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:40,650 I don't wanna say minimize the mass, 296 00:14:40,650 --> 00:14:45,290 I wanna say optimize the mass because it takes mass 297 00:14:45,290 --> 00:14:47,930 to build a structure that can handle the loads 298 00:14:47,930 --> 00:14:49,554 that we put it through. 299 00:14:49,554 --> 00:14:52,770 (pondering music) 300 00:14:52,770 --> 00:14:55,853 And there is a limit to how big you can make something. 301 00:14:57,053 --> 00:14:59,886 (pondering music) 302 00:15:01,650 --> 00:15:05,350 In April, 2017, the first completed section 303 00:15:05,350 --> 00:15:10,150 of the core stage begins a 1,240 mile journey, 304 00:15:10,150 --> 00:15:12,143 from New Orleans to Alabama. 305 00:15:14,970 --> 00:15:17,700 The engine section test article will be carried on 306 00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:21,313 NASA's Pegasus barge to the Marshall Space Flight Center. 307 00:15:23,500 --> 00:15:26,370 There, it will undergo structural tests 308 00:15:26,370 --> 00:15:28,620 to ensure it can withstand the forces 309 00:15:28,620 --> 00:15:32,283 created by 8.8 million pounds of thrust at launch. 310 00:15:34,161 --> 00:15:36,980 (dramatic music) 311 00:15:36,980 --> 00:15:39,710 Many, many different components of the Space Launch System 312 00:15:39,710 --> 00:15:41,610 lie within that one engine section. 313 00:15:41,610 --> 00:15:44,080 I would even say about 80% of the parts 314 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,573 that go into the core stage is in the engine section. 315 00:15:48,603 --> 00:15:50,340 (dramatic music) 316 00:15:50,340 --> 00:15:53,370 It's one of the most important segments of the core stage 317 00:15:53,370 --> 00:15:55,070 for the Space Launch System, 318 00:15:55,070 --> 00:15:58,843 because it attaches the RS-25 engines. 319 00:15:58,843 --> 00:16:01,676 (dramatic music) 320 00:16:05,420 --> 00:16:07,870 16 Shuttle main engines were leftover 321 00:16:07,870 --> 00:16:12,870 after the Shuttle program ended in 2011 called RS-25s. 322 00:16:13,510 --> 00:16:15,563 They already have a proven track record. 323 00:16:16,670 --> 00:16:18,360 (pondering music) 324 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:20,940 The RC-25 engine, it's a seasoned veteran, 325 00:16:20,940 --> 00:16:23,450 it's been aging well like wine, right, 326 00:16:23,450 --> 00:16:24,760 it gets better as we age it 327 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:26,449 'cause we implement improvements. 328 00:16:26,449 --> 00:16:29,760 (pondering music) 329 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:33,430 For a car guy I would say they are the Rolls Royces 330 00:16:33,430 --> 00:16:36,593 and the Ferrari together as an engine. 331 00:16:37,620 --> 00:16:39,440 I have to put this in there as well. 332 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,111 They also have a little Prius built in there. (laughs) 333 00:16:42,111 --> 00:16:44,000 (light dramatic music) 334 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,300 In 2014 NASA begins shipping all 16 engines 335 00:16:48,300 --> 00:16:50,990 to Stennis Space Center where they must be refitted 336 00:16:50,990 --> 00:16:52,503 for Space Launch System. 337 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,210 We needed to adapt those engines, it's a different rocket. 338 00:16:57,210 --> 00:16:59,930 There were interfaces that had to be dealt with, 339 00:16:59,930 --> 00:17:03,960 physical, mechanical interfaces, hydraulics, gases, 340 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,723 propellant, a lot of things to think about. 341 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:10,450 The engines burn liquid hydrogen 342 00:17:10,450 --> 00:17:14,160 and oxygen to create superheated water that exits the nozzle 343 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:18,083 at 13 times the speed of sound, creating huge thrust. 344 00:17:19,890 --> 00:17:21,810 When we first started on the Shuttle 345 00:17:21,810 --> 00:17:26,622 our engines ran at, call it designed thrust, a 100%. 346 00:17:26,622 --> 00:17:28,740 (light dramatic music) 347 00:17:28,740 --> 00:17:32,103 Vehicle guys always want more power. 348 00:17:32,959 --> 00:17:36,220 (rocket engines blasting) 349 00:17:36,220 --> 00:17:37,290 Going to the SLS, 350 00:17:37,290 --> 00:17:40,651 the first flight will be at 109, not 100%. 351 00:17:40,651 --> 00:17:43,120 (rocket engines blasting) 352 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:46,340 Eventually we're gonna go to higher power liberals, 111%. 353 00:17:46,340 --> 00:17:51,340 That's what NASA is aiming for is 111% of the rated power, 354 00:17:51,470 --> 00:17:54,991 which is quite a boost over the Shuttle era. 355 00:17:54,991 --> 00:17:58,320 (rocket engines blasting) 356 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,010 In 2015 NASA begins testing 357 00:18:01,010 --> 00:18:04,943 all 16 RS-25 engines at the Stennis Space Center. 358 00:18:06,020 --> 00:18:09,340 It's a risky business pushing the engines to their limits 359 00:18:09,340 --> 00:18:12,206 and preparing them for their ultimate mission. 360 00:18:12,206 --> 00:18:15,460 (dramatic music) 361 00:18:15,460 --> 00:18:18,200 So, you know, in terms of increasing the thrust level 362 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:19,400 of the RS-25 engine, 363 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:21,270 we're increasing the mass that we're flowing, 364 00:18:21,270 --> 00:18:23,522 but we also increase the pressures that we see. 365 00:18:23,522 --> 00:18:24,840 (rocket engines blasting) 366 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:26,440 If you start increasing pressures, 367 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,390 then you also have higher temperatures. 368 00:18:29,420 --> 00:18:31,530 The turbo pumps have to be moving 369 00:18:31,530 --> 00:18:34,940 at faster rotational speeds. 370 00:18:34,940 --> 00:18:39,615 And you can imagine all of those things stress the material 371 00:18:39,615 --> 00:18:40,952 more and more. 372 00:18:40,952 --> 00:18:42,120 (rocket engines blasting) 373 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,710 So it is that fine balance that dance, if you will, 374 00:18:45,710 --> 00:18:49,180 any change that you make affects not only the rocket engine, 375 00:18:49,180 --> 00:18:51,620 but it could affect the vehicle as a whole. 376 00:18:51,620 --> 00:18:55,037 (rocket engine blasting) 377 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:57,720 For this vehicle, you know, 378 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:02,010 it makes sense to make these engines expendable. 379 00:19:02,010 --> 00:19:03,210 The Space Shuttle main engine, 380 00:19:03,210 --> 00:19:06,720 or now the RS-25 was designed to be reusable. 381 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,280 The Space Shuttle was that, it was a reusable vehicle: 382 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,793 it went to low Earth orbit, it came back. 383 00:19:13,540 --> 00:19:15,840 The mission for SLS is different, 384 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,163 we're going to the moon and beyond. 385 00:19:20,010 --> 00:19:22,310 So when we get to main engine cutoff, 386 00:19:22,310 --> 00:19:24,400 you're well out of the atmosphere, 387 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,143 so there's really no way to bring those engines back. 388 00:19:28,230 --> 00:19:31,710 So you no longer have to design your engine 389 00:19:31,710 --> 00:19:33,313 for an extended life. 390 00:19:34,180 --> 00:19:36,210 And now that you have that shorter lifespan, 391 00:19:36,210 --> 00:19:39,860 then you could push your components to higher pressures, 392 00:19:39,860 --> 00:19:43,040 higher temperatures that may degrade its life. 393 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:44,820 But since we're no longer we're reusing it, 394 00:19:44,820 --> 00:19:47,270 we're able to push those boundaries even farther. 395 00:19:48,980 --> 00:19:50,670 Those are the trades you have to make. 396 00:19:50,670 --> 00:19:55,070 We could not afford to carry the additional weight 397 00:19:55,070 --> 00:19:58,593 and complexity associated with reusability. 398 00:20:01,050 --> 00:20:04,113 But it hurts to throw away RS-25 engines. 399 00:20:05,121 --> 00:20:07,010 (upbeat music) 400 00:20:07,010 --> 00:20:08,640 I dunno how do you say it? 401 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:10,010 It's a little bit disappointing, 402 00:20:10,010 --> 00:20:13,210 but we're going to the moon. 403 00:20:13,210 --> 00:20:17,140 I mean, if you're gonna be used for the last time 404 00:20:17,140 --> 00:20:20,200 in an expendable vehicle going to the moon, 405 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:21,523 that's pretty cool. 406 00:20:22,726 --> 00:20:25,976 (deep pondering music) 407 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:47,560 We wanna use those engines 408 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:49,250 because no one's ever turned down 409 00:20:49,250 --> 00:20:50,790 high thrust and high fuel economy. 410 00:20:50,790 --> 00:20:53,157 Nobody's ever said, "Oh, I don't want those things 411 00:20:53,157 --> 00:20:53,997 "on a rocket." 412 00:20:56,940 --> 00:20:59,340 And that drives this requirement 413 00:20:59,340 --> 00:21:01,263 of having these cryogenic propellants. 414 00:21:02,940 --> 00:21:04,710 Hydrogen is the most efficient 415 00:21:04,710 --> 00:21:06,640 known rocket propellant, 416 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:08,393 but it has a very low density. 417 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,240 Storing it and the oxygen needed to burn it, 418 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,600 even in liquid form requires huge tanks 419 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,073 and very low temperatures. 420 00:21:18,140 --> 00:21:21,723 Any leakage creates a risk of catastrophic explosion. 421 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,760 When you liquefy them you can carry a lot more 422 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,050 in a smaller space, but if they get too warm 423 00:21:27,050 --> 00:21:31,663 they flash to gas immediately, and then you're in trouble. 424 00:21:34,130 --> 00:21:36,620 It's just not a normal part of engineering 425 00:21:36,620 --> 00:21:38,530 to do cryogenic engineering. 426 00:21:38,530 --> 00:21:41,660 We don't normally, in our everyday life, do things 427 00:21:41,660 --> 00:21:44,363 that are at 40 degrees above absolute zero. 428 00:21:47,100 --> 00:21:51,490 The hydrogen is so cold that it will actually freeze 429 00:21:51,490 --> 00:21:55,030 the air around it in a duct, for instance. 430 00:21:55,030 --> 00:21:58,000 So we have to make sure that we've got the proper insulation 431 00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,770 on the ducting, not just on our engines, 432 00:21:59,770 --> 00:22:01,070 but throughout the system. 433 00:22:03,350 --> 00:22:08,133 Cryogenic temperatures can wreak havoc on components. 434 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,240 Large metal structures, valves, when you hit them 435 00:22:15,173 --> 00:22:18,750 with cryogenic oxygen or hydrogen they change, 436 00:22:18,750 --> 00:22:20,533 they move, they shrink. 437 00:22:22,210 --> 00:22:25,820 The tank itself wants to expand with pressure, 438 00:22:25,820 --> 00:22:28,090 it wants to shrink with the cryogenic, 439 00:22:28,090 --> 00:22:32,270 and so all of that goes into designing hardware 440 00:22:32,270 --> 00:22:34,810 for the SLS program. 441 00:22:34,810 --> 00:22:37,393 (upbeat music) 442 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:41,730 The tanks need to stand up 443 00:22:41,730 --> 00:22:44,540 to more than just changes in temperature, 444 00:22:44,540 --> 00:22:46,310 they also need to withstand 445 00:22:46,310 --> 00:22:49,673 the 8.8 million pounds of thrust at launch. 446 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,310 It's one thing to know that you have a strong structure, 447 00:22:54,310 --> 00:22:56,550 it's another thing to take such a massive structure 448 00:22:56,550 --> 00:22:57,383 and test it. 449 00:22:59,270 --> 00:23:02,770 You don't build a scale model, you build a piece of hardware 450 00:23:02,770 --> 00:23:04,670 that's like flight. 451 00:23:04,670 --> 00:23:06,980 You know, the desire is to build it as if it could be 452 00:23:06,980 --> 00:23:09,480 just interchanged with a piece of flight hardware. 453 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,810 We're looking at simulating the different loads 454 00:23:12,810 --> 00:23:15,680 that it would undergo during flight. 455 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:18,130 You want to know that as you designed it 456 00:23:18,130 --> 00:23:21,360 it will be able to carry out all of the different loads 457 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:24,393 and still maintain its structural integrity. 458 00:23:24,393 --> 00:23:27,670 (pondering music) 459 00:23:27,670 --> 00:23:29,150 It said in NASA 460 00:23:29,150 --> 00:23:34,010 that they work for a 1.4 factor of safety, 461 00:23:34,010 --> 00:23:37,330 meaning that something, a rocket should be able to tolerate 462 00:23:37,330 --> 00:23:39,630 a load about one and a half higher 463 00:23:39,630 --> 00:23:41,280 than what they think is possible. 464 00:23:42,850 --> 00:23:46,980 For factors of safety as high as 11 for elevator cables, 465 00:23:46,980 --> 00:23:50,370 airplanes factor of 2, 2 1/5, 466 00:23:50,370 --> 00:23:53,430 so you could say of all the devices that mankind has made 467 00:23:53,430 --> 00:23:56,120 rockets have about the narrowest factor of safety 468 00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:58,860 because you need to have everything kind of running 469 00:23:58,860 --> 00:24:01,033 right on the ragged edge. 470 00:24:03,150 --> 00:24:05,250 If you don't, it won't get off the ground. 471 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,180 Confirming the design is neither too strong 472 00:24:09,180 --> 00:24:12,110 nor too weak means testing it to destruction 473 00:24:12,110 --> 00:24:14,913 in a giant rig to simulate the load in flight. 474 00:24:16,890 --> 00:24:19,740 It needs to break exactly as predicted. 475 00:24:19,740 --> 00:24:21,340 It was a pneumatic test. 476 00:24:21,340 --> 00:24:23,460 We're pushing down on this tank 477 00:24:23,460 --> 00:24:25,286 while we have pressure on it. 478 00:24:25,286 --> 00:24:27,720 (light anticipatory music) 479 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,410 You hold your breath. 480 00:24:29,410 --> 00:24:32,510 (light anticipatory music) 481 00:24:32,510 --> 00:24:35,160 The first thing that we heard was an audible noise. 482 00:24:36,079 --> 00:24:39,079 (engines exploding) 483 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:43,950 Did what we thought it would do it buckled. 484 00:24:43,950 --> 00:24:45,543 And we actually clapped. 485 00:24:47,780 --> 00:24:50,910 The models work really well, I was ready to call it a day. 486 00:24:50,910 --> 00:24:52,160 You know, we'd tested the tank 487 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,490 that's when it breaks in flight. 488 00:24:54,490 --> 00:24:56,823 But the tank held one last surprise. 489 00:24:57,694 --> 00:24:59,100 (tank exploding) 490 00:24:59,100 --> 00:25:02,140 We had high speed video of this metal 491 00:25:02,140 --> 00:25:05,100 that's more than a half inch thick flopping in the breeze, 492 00:25:05,100 --> 00:25:06,229 like a feather. 493 00:25:06,229 --> 00:25:08,570 (steam sizzling) 494 00:25:08,570 --> 00:25:11,490 After spending so much time welding 495 00:25:11,490 --> 00:25:14,520 all of the tanks together in such a precise manner, 496 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:18,610 actually seeing it break apart can kind of cause your heart 497 00:25:18,610 --> 00:25:20,180 to break, to be honest. 498 00:25:20,180 --> 00:25:22,630 But it's very important data that we need 499 00:25:22,630 --> 00:25:25,970 in order to understand the true capability 500 00:25:25,970 --> 00:25:27,963 of the structural test article. 501 00:25:29,152 --> 00:25:32,680 (light upbeat music) 502 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,150 The oxygen tank we tested was very similar. 503 00:25:36,150 --> 00:25:38,350 We wanted to test that oxygen tank 504 00:25:38,350 --> 00:25:39,780 at reasonably high pressure. 505 00:25:39,780 --> 00:25:42,610 And to do that pneumatically would produced so much energy 506 00:25:42,610 --> 00:25:47,230 that it would hurt the test stand and be a danger to folks, 507 00:25:47,230 --> 00:25:49,143 and so we filled it full of water. 508 00:25:50,024 --> 00:25:52,941 (pondering music) 509 00:26:08,580 --> 00:26:10,493 I liked those test to failures. 510 00:26:12,230 --> 00:26:15,370 The reason by the way we test to failure is to see 511 00:26:15,370 --> 00:26:16,880 how much margin we have. 512 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,770 And it turned out in that hydrogen tank, 513 00:26:18,770 --> 00:26:21,156 we have tremendous margin. 514 00:26:21,156 --> 00:26:24,610 (dramatic music) 515 00:26:24,610 --> 00:26:27,633 The core stage has aced its structural tests. 516 00:26:29,270 --> 00:26:31,530 Now all the segments must be joined together 517 00:26:31,530 --> 00:26:34,103 with its four RS-25 engines. 518 00:26:36,130 --> 00:26:38,650 But despite the engine's awesome power, 519 00:26:38,650 --> 00:26:41,300 not even pushing them past their design limit 520 00:26:41,300 --> 00:26:45,395 will create enough thrust to get SLS off the planet. 521 00:26:45,395 --> 00:26:46,580 (dramatic music) 522 00:26:46,580 --> 00:26:50,480 My most efficient fuel, it turns out is hydrogen, 523 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,640 it gives me very high exhaust velocities. 524 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:56,810 And now that part of my rocket equation is satisfied, 525 00:26:56,810 --> 00:26:59,290 it loves hydrogen. 526 00:26:59,290 --> 00:27:02,980 But hydrogen is such a low density that now I've got to have 527 00:27:02,980 --> 00:27:05,380 this huge tank to hold it. 528 00:27:05,380 --> 00:27:06,213 And guess what? 529 00:27:06,213 --> 00:27:08,584 My dry weight has gone up. 530 00:27:08,584 --> 00:27:11,130 (upbeat music) 531 00:27:11,130 --> 00:27:14,480 I need Solid Rocket Boosters to help get that big tank 532 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:15,313 off the ground. 533 00:27:16,186 --> 00:27:18,580 (upbeat music) 534 00:27:18,580 --> 00:27:20,540 The current booster is a derivation 535 00:27:20,540 --> 00:27:24,190 from the Space Shuttle and it does look on the outside, 536 00:27:24,190 --> 00:27:25,880 very similar to the Space Shuttle Booster, 537 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:30,490 but it is 25% longer, has 25% more fuel to provide 538 00:27:30,490 --> 00:27:31,913 that much more thrust. 539 00:27:33,380 --> 00:27:35,790 Each booster is built from five segments 540 00:27:35,790 --> 00:27:37,913 filled with a solid epoxy propellant. 541 00:27:40,390 --> 00:27:43,850 Once stuck together the segments stand 17 stories tall 542 00:27:43,850 --> 00:27:47,083 and create more trust than 14 jumbo jets. 543 00:27:48,090 --> 00:27:50,390 I like to think of the boosters is an afterburner 544 00:27:50,390 --> 00:27:51,940 on a fighter jet. 545 00:27:51,940 --> 00:27:55,590 When you have a heavy rocket lifting off of the launch pad, 546 00:27:55,590 --> 00:27:57,460 over 90% of that is fuel. 547 00:27:57,460 --> 00:28:00,580 And so you have to have an immense amount of thrust 548 00:28:00,580 --> 00:28:02,780 to get that off the ground. 549 00:28:02,780 --> 00:28:04,870 (rocket engines blasting) 550 00:28:04,870 --> 00:28:08,260 SLS generates over 8 million pounds of thrust 551 00:28:08,260 --> 00:28:09,950 and the Solid Rocket Boosters 552 00:28:09,950 --> 00:28:12,957 generate about 5 million pounds of that by itself. 553 00:28:12,957 --> 00:28:14,440 (rocket engines blasting) 554 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:16,850 So the boosters contribute the majority 555 00:28:16,850 --> 00:28:20,090 of the thrust capability for SLS. 556 00:28:20,090 --> 00:28:22,170 When I flew Space Shuttles, I could feel that 557 00:28:22,170 --> 00:28:26,490 in the crew module as this incredible push. 558 00:28:26,490 --> 00:28:31,240 (dramatic music) (rocket engines blasting) 559 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:35,100 Even though its efficiency is not as good as hydrogen, 560 00:28:35,100 --> 00:28:38,220 it burns propellant with very high thrust 561 00:28:39,206 --> 00:28:41,900 and it loses its weight very rapidly, 562 00:28:41,900 --> 00:28:45,703 and so I can accelerate the vehicle coming off of the pad. 563 00:28:45,703 --> 00:28:50,703 (rocket engines blasting) (dramatic music) 564 00:28:56,460 --> 00:28:59,540 You want to dump weight as fast as you can. 565 00:28:59,540 --> 00:29:03,650 And so what we do is when we empty a stage of fuel, 566 00:29:03,650 --> 00:29:06,630 it's no good to us anymore, it's dry weight. 567 00:29:06,630 --> 00:29:09,439 We release it and let it drop into the ocean. 568 00:29:09,439 --> 00:29:12,939 (rocket engines blasting) 569 00:29:16,420 --> 00:29:21,393 Five, four, three, two, one, fire. 570 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,360 Work on converting the Solid Rocket Boosters 571 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,003 for SLS began back in 2013, 572 00:29:28,910 --> 00:29:31,967 with testing carried out in Promontory, Utah. 573 00:29:31,967 --> 00:29:33,900 You've got 10 seconds. 574 00:29:33,900 --> 00:29:36,830 Once we lift off, we're now confronted with 575 00:29:36,830 --> 00:29:40,550 a lot of challenges that we have to have designed properly. 576 00:29:40,550 --> 00:29:42,000 Chief has 20 seconds. 577 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,660 The temperature that the Solid Rocket fuels burn at 578 00:29:44,660 --> 00:29:48,760 is in excess of 5,000, pushing 6,000 degrees. 579 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,210 And what we do is we ignite it from the top 580 00:29:51,210 --> 00:29:53,712 and we let it burn out the bottom in a nozzle. 581 00:29:53,712 --> 00:29:56,460 (fire blasting) 582 00:29:56,460 --> 00:30:00,380 And you have this tube of propellant that joins up 583 00:30:00,380 --> 00:30:02,029 with a steel casing. 584 00:30:02,029 --> 00:30:03,757 You've got 30 seconds. 585 00:30:03,757 --> 00:30:06,520 You don't just put the propellant next to the steel, 586 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:07,623 that would melt it. 587 00:30:09,300 --> 00:30:12,780 So there has to be an insulating rubber layer 588 00:30:12,780 --> 00:30:16,783 that protects the steel from that intense flame. 589 00:30:18,910 --> 00:30:22,150 In the Shuttle system we had an asbestos fiber 590 00:30:22,150 --> 00:30:24,590 that was effective, but not as effective 591 00:30:24,590 --> 00:30:26,023 as these new materials. 592 00:30:27,100 --> 00:30:31,370 That rubber insulation, as it is exposed to heat 593 00:30:31,370 --> 00:30:34,840 actually turns to a charred material that further protects 594 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,443 the case from any exposure to the heat. 595 00:30:38,328 --> 00:30:40,230 (rocket engines blasting) 596 00:30:40,230 --> 00:30:43,980 NASA worries about voids between the propellant 597 00:30:43,980 --> 00:30:45,693 and that rubber liner. 598 00:30:46,740 --> 00:30:49,750 That could cause an extra point of heat 599 00:30:49,750 --> 00:30:51,883 as that propellant burns down. 600 00:30:52,900 --> 00:30:55,109 The consequences of that could be improper burning, 601 00:30:55,109 --> 00:30:59,140 could be early burn back through the insulation, 602 00:30:59,140 --> 00:31:00,930 which is not something you wanna deal with 603 00:31:00,930 --> 00:31:04,120 when you're talking about the massive forces 604 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:06,065 inside a rocket motor. 605 00:31:06,065 --> 00:31:06,898 (dramatic music) 606 00:31:06,898 --> 00:31:08,590 Even the tiniest void could cause 607 00:31:08,590 --> 00:31:10,770 a catastrophic failure at lunch. 608 00:31:10,770 --> 00:31:14,270 We eventually got to processes that could eliminate 609 00:31:14,270 --> 00:31:17,090 those voids and it took an immense amount of engineering 610 00:31:17,090 --> 00:31:18,530 to do that. 611 00:31:18,530 --> 00:31:20,590 The Solid Rocket Boosters will operate 612 00:31:20,590 --> 00:31:23,700 for just 126 seconds at flight. 613 00:31:23,700 --> 00:31:26,443 And within that the first minute is crucial. 614 00:31:27,469 --> 00:31:29,219 You've got 40 seconds. 615 00:31:30,310 --> 00:31:32,370 30 to 50 seconds after liftoff, 616 00:31:32,370 --> 00:31:34,970 you start to approach this transonic regime 617 00:31:34,970 --> 00:31:36,959 where shock waves form. 618 00:31:36,959 --> 00:31:39,520 (dramatic music) (rocket engines blasting) 619 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:41,910 Max-Q, max dynamic pressure. 620 00:31:41,910 --> 00:31:43,470 There's nobody in this industry 621 00:31:43,470 --> 00:31:46,314 that doesn't think about Max-Q. 622 00:31:46,314 --> 00:31:49,222 (rocket engines blasting) 623 00:31:49,222 --> 00:31:50,690 And if you didn't throttle back, 624 00:31:50,690 --> 00:31:52,753 you could do damage to the structure. 625 00:31:52,753 --> 00:31:53,840 (dramatic music) 626 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,630 The boosters use a clever trick to throttle back 627 00:31:56,630 --> 00:31:58,163 and then build trust again, 628 00:31:59,490 --> 00:32:02,020 and it's baked into the design. 629 00:32:02,020 --> 00:32:05,750 We put fins into that propellant, 630 00:32:05,750 --> 00:32:10,190 so as you look down you actually see a star shape pattern, 631 00:32:10,190 --> 00:32:13,350 and all of that pattern is exposed propellant. 632 00:32:13,350 --> 00:32:17,030 And it turns out that the rate at which the propellant burns 633 00:32:17,030 --> 00:32:20,639 is proportional to how much propellant is exposed. 634 00:32:20,639 --> 00:32:24,139 (rocket engines blasting) 635 00:32:26,220 --> 00:32:28,940 And we time that such that as the rocket reaches 636 00:32:28,940 --> 00:32:31,350 this point of maximum dynamic pressure, 637 00:32:31,350 --> 00:32:35,140 we're actually throttling the Solid Rocket Booster 638 00:32:35,140 --> 00:32:36,800 to where the thrust decreases 639 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,310 till we break through that sound barrier, 640 00:32:38,310 --> 00:32:40,006 we push it back again. 641 00:32:40,006 --> 00:32:43,506 (rocket engines blasting) 642 00:32:44,803 --> 00:32:47,205 You've got 120 seconds. 643 00:32:47,205 --> 00:32:50,705 (rocket engines blasting) 644 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,070 Activate head and CO2. 645 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,380 (train horn blasting) 646 00:33:02,380 --> 00:33:03,880 Because the booster is so large 647 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,790 we actually ship it in separate segments by train 648 00:33:07,860 --> 00:33:10,390 from the manufacturing facility in Utah 649 00:33:10,390 --> 00:33:12,140 to the launch site at Cape Kennedy, 650 00:33:12,140 --> 00:33:13,813 and at the Kennedy Space Center. 651 00:33:16,289 --> 00:33:18,603 (light dramatic music) 652 00:33:18,603 --> 00:33:21,650 The Vehicle Assembly Building or VAB as we refer to it, 653 00:33:21,650 --> 00:33:26,140 it's a single-story building, but it's huge, 525 feet tall. 654 00:33:26,140 --> 00:33:29,136 We could build four rockets at a time if we really wanted. 655 00:33:29,136 --> 00:33:30,050 (dramatic music) 656 00:33:30,050 --> 00:33:32,210 The arrival of the Solid Rocket Boosters 657 00:33:32,210 --> 00:33:35,840 sets off an irreversible countdown to lunch. 658 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:38,110 Once they are assembled they must be used 659 00:33:38,110 --> 00:33:40,640 within 12 months before there are damaged 660 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:42,460 by their own weight. 661 00:33:42,460 --> 00:33:45,150 There is a timeframe here that we've got to march to, 662 00:33:45,150 --> 00:33:48,600 we've got to steadily make progress, we have a plan. 663 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:49,900 With time critical, 664 00:33:49,900 --> 00:33:51,970 nothing has been left to chance. 665 00:33:51,970 --> 00:33:55,140 The entire procedure has been planned and rehearsed 666 00:33:55,140 --> 00:33:57,019 for every part of SLS. 667 00:33:57,019 --> 00:33:58,460 (dramatic music) 668 00:33:58,460 --> 00:33:59,900 I don't care how much experience you have, 669 00:33:59,900 --> 00:34:00,950 this rocket is new. 670 00:34:00,950 --> 00:34:02,973 So we train our folks all the time. 671 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,710 Brought a mock-up of the entire 212-foot long 672 00:34:07,710 --> 00:34:10,013 rocket stage pathfinder, we called it, 673 00:34:11,170 --> 00:34:14,130 and we let our people rotate it, handle it, 674 00:34:14,130 --> 00:34:16,732 lift it and practice with it. 675 00:34:16,732 --> 00:34:19,565 (dramatic music) 676 00:34:21,822 --> 00:34:23,700 One of the biggest things that we had to consider, 677 00:34:23,700 --> 00:34:28,123 in the design of the SLS was its attachment to the ground. 678 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:31,490 NASA began essential upgrades 679 00:34:31,490 --> 00:34:35,023 to the Kennedy Space Center's facilities back in 2013. 680 00:34:36,020 --> 00:34:39,750 For SLS it has revolutionized one iconic idea 681 00:34:39,750 --> 00:34:44,486 from the Saturn V program, Launch Umbilical Tower. 682 00:34:44,486 --> 00:34:47,470 (dramatic music) 683 00:34:47,470 --> 00:34:50,030 This is a massive, massive structure 684 00:34:50,030 --> 00:34:51,290 that when you're at the top of it 685 00:34:51,290 --> 00:34:53,240 you're roughly 400 feet off the ground. 686 00:34:55,930 --> 00:34:59,100 The structure was built for the Constellation program, 687 00:34:59,100 --> 00:35:01,150 but then, that's about as far as we got, 688 00:35:01,150 --> 00:35:03,050 because then the program was canceled. 689 00:35:05,090 --> 00:35:07,197 It saved us money to go ahead and say, 690 00:35:07,197 --> 00:35:09,987 "Okay, let's transform this mobile launcher 691 00:35:09,987 --> 00:35:12,267 "from Constellation over here to SLS." 692 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:15,173 Now, sounds straightforward, right. 693 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,420 But, honestly, when you look at SLS, 694 00:35:18,420 --> 00:35:20,730 the weight is tremendously increased, 695 00:35:20,730 --> 00:35:24,110 the power of the rocket is tremendously increased. 696 00:35:24,110 --> 00:35:26,810 So we had to basically reinforce the entire structure. 697 00:35:30,580 --> 00:35:33,490 The umbilicals provide, you know, the food if you will, 698 00:35:33,490 --> 00:35:35,440 the carrying and feeding to the rocket, 699 00:35:36,466 --> 00:35:39,330 the fuel, the gasses, the cooling, the communications, 700 00:35:39,330 --> 00:35:42,210 the data all feed through these arms that are attached 701 00:35:42,210 --> 00:35:44,770 to the giant tower on the mobile launcher. 702 00:35:44,770 --> 00:35:49,500 When we fire the SRBs, the Solid Rocket Boosters, 703 00:35:49,500 --> 00:35:52,170 we're basically moving within a quarter of a second. 704 00:35:52,170 --> 00:35:55,423 So literally within a blink of an eye, 705 00:35:55,423 --> 00:35:57,545 (rocket engines blasting) 706 00:35:57,545 --> 00:35:59,410 the mobile launcher platform has to release 707 00:35:59,410 --> 00:36:02,200 all of those umbilicals and get back out of the way 708 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:04,773 of the vehicle as the vehicle rises off the pad. 709 00:36:05,862 --> 00:36:08,695 (dramatic music) 710 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,770 She throw us a curve ball every day. 711 00:36:15,770 --> 00:36:17,610 It was a tough process. 712 00:36:17,610 --> 00:36:21,240 I spent, you know, three and a half years out there, 713 00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:22,740 basically living in a trailer. 714 00:36:22,740 --> 00:36:24,470 But when you're working on something like that, 715 00:36:24,470 --> 00:36:26,660 you realize it's unique, it's one. 716 00:36:26,660 --> 00:36:28,160 You know what you're doing with it, right 717 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:30,853 I'm gonna launch the world's most powerful rocket. 718 00:36:30,853 --> 00:36:33,023 So all of that helps drive you. 719 00:36:34,620 --> 00:36:36,770 The tower sits on top of a platform 720 00:36:36,770 --> 00:36:38,763 over 21,000 feet square. 721 00:36:40,490 --> 00:36:42,783 Together they form the mobile launcher. 722 00:36:44,750 --> 00:36:47,540 The mobile launcher or ML as we always refer to it 723 00:36:47,540 --> 00:36:50,880 is, essentially, the cradle, it's kind of the central point 724 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:53,325 of assembling and testing the rocket. 725 00:36:53,325 --> 00:36:56,075 (dramatic music) 726 00:36:57,753 --> 00:36:59,490 The entire rocket will be built on top 727 00:36:59,490 --> 00:37:01,930 of the mobile launcher, and then the mobile launcher 728 00:37:01,930 --> 00:37:05,943 is transferred out to the pad using the Crawler-transporter. 729 00:37:09,500 --> 00:37:13,020 We do have a season for hurricanes, that can be tough. 730 00:37:13,020 --> 00:37:14,380 If we were out at the pad, 731 00:37:14,380 --> 00:37:16,140 when a hurricane were to come along, 732 00:37:16,140 --> 00:37:18,700 we would roll back to the VAB and button the rocket up 733 00:37:18,700 --> 00:37:20,807 inside there and ride it out. 734 00:37:20,807 --> 00:37:23,640 (pondering music) 735 00:37:27,522 --> 00:37:30,605 (anticipatory music) 736 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:36,810 Stacking the Solid Rocket Boosters 737 00:37:36,810 --> 00:37:38,820 is progressing well. 738 00:37:38,820 --> 00:37:41,180 Now the pressure is on to get the core stage 739 00:37:41,180 --> 00:37:43,386 to the vehicle assembly building. 740 00:37:43,386 --> 00:37:46,250 (anticipatory music) 741 00:37:46,250 --> 00:37:49,280 But first the entire stage must be lifted into a stand 742 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:53,563 at the Stennis Space Center for a crucial hot fire test. 743 00:37:54,839 --> 00:37:58,160 (anticipatory music) 744 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:00,290 The weight of that column of liquid pushing down 745 00:38:00,290 --> 00:38:02,540 on the engines at the bottom creates 746 00:38:02,540 --> 00:38:05,403 a different operating condition when the engines start. 747 00:38:06,445 --> 00:38:07,278 (anticipatory music) 748 00:38:07,278 --> 00:38:09,220 The problem we could have had with the engine 749 00:38:09,220 --> 00:38:12,120 was a structural failure. 750 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:13,893 So we had to go prove on the test stand 751 00:38:13,893 --> 00:38:16,800 that the engine would start and run 752 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:19,943 at liquid oxygen pressures that high. 753 00:38:22,098 --> 00:38:23,320 (pondering music) 754 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:27,100 It is primarily a test of the propulsion systems, 755 00:38:27,100 --> 00:38:30,740 and so there's a lot of focus on my hardware, 756 00:38:30,740 --> 00:38:33,833 which is the steering system for the rocket. 757 00:38:34,940 --> 00:38:36,980 Space Launch System will be steered 758 00:38:36,980 --> 00:38:40,030 using a technique known as gimballing. 759 00:38:40,030 --> 00:38:42,670 It requires precise individual adjustments 760 00:38:42,670 --> 00:38:46,090 to the direction of the four RS-25 engines. 761 00:38:46,090 --> 00:38:50,010 You're trying to make adjustments of less than a degree 762 00:38:50,010 --> 00:38:53,300 sometimes in those nozzles to change the trajectory 763 00:38:53,300 --> 00:38:56,430 just slightly on a vehicle that is going 764 00:38:56,430 --> 00:38:59,890 thousands of miles per hour through the atmosphere. 765 00:38:59,890 --> 00:39:04,560 And they have to work perfectly every single time 766 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:08,563 because there is no room for error in steering the rocket. 767 00:39:10,850 --> 00:39:12,050 We designed these parts 768 00:39:12,050 --> 00:39:13,840 and they're supposed to do a certain thing, 769 00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,933 but you never know until you actually test. 770 00:39:19,460 --> 00:39:21,930 The ultimate test is the hot fire test, 771 00:39:21,930 --> 00:39:25,560 and that is where all four engines are firing 772 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:27,023 for a simulated flight. 773 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:31,500 The only difference is that the core stage 774 00:39:31,500 --> 00:39:33,463 is bolted into a test stand. 775 00:39:36,460 --> 00:39:39,210 Everything is there to mimic the launch 776 00:39:39,210 --> 00:39:40,470 as just the core stage alone. 777 00:39:40,470 --> 00:39:43,180 So you actually have to fool the rocket into thinking 778 00:39:43,180 --> 00:39:44,363 there's boosters there. 779 00:39:45,900 --> 00:39:50,050 Firing a Solid Rocket Booster in that kind of position 780 00:39:50,050 --> 00:39:52,203 we would have melted the test stand down. 781 00:39:53,253 --> 00:39:56,340 (pondering music) 782 00:39:56,340 --> 00:40:01,340 We need to test all the engines for at least four minutes 783 00:40:01,620 --> 00:40:02,630 if not eight minutes. 784 00:40:02,630 --> 00:40:04,313 Eight minutes is a full flight. 785 00:40:05,378 --> 00:40:08,211 (pondering music) 786 00:40:11,550 --> 00:40:13,050 This is the last major hurdle 787 00:40:13,050 --> 00:40:15,430 in making its way towards the launch pad. 788 00:40:15,430 --> 00:40:19,410 It's a kind of test, you know, comes along once in a career, 789 00:40:19,410 --> 00:40:21,963 once in a lifetime. 790 00:40:23,430 --> 00:40:25,120 I'm in the test control center 791 00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:27,243 with the steel blast doors closed. 792 00:40:30,220 --> 00:40:35,220 10, 9, 8, 7, (rocket engines blasting) 793 00:40:35,538 --> 00:40:39,237 and you see the steam and the fire coming out of this hole. 794 00:40:39,237 --> 00:40:42,737 (rocket engines blasting) 795 00:40:44,179 --> 00:40:46,802 And we're (indistinct), engine start. 796 00:40:46,802 --> 00:40:48,630 When those engines start up, 797 00:40:48,630 --> 00:40:52,120 even though you're locked inside a bunker, 798 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:55,300 you can still feel the power of four engines running 799 00:40:55,300 --> 00:40:56,632 at the same time. 800 00:40:56,632 --> 00:41:00,132 (rocket engines blasting) 801 00:41:03,250 --> 00:41:05,715 All right less 25 seconds. 802 00:41:05,715 --> 00:41:07,563 (rocket engines blasting) 803 00:41:07,563 --> 00:41:10,829 PDRA we did get an MCF on engine four. 804 00:41:10,829 --> 00:41:13,160 Roger that, but we're still running. 805 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:13,993 We've still got four- 806 00:41:13,993 --> 00:41:15,668 There's a couple of things going on 807 00:41:15,668 --> 00:41:17,450 that you didn't exactly predict, 808 00:41:17,450 --> 00:41:20,701 but actually it didn't affect our rocket at all, you know. 809 00:41:20,701 --> 00:41:23,470 (dramatic music) (rocket engines blasting) 810 00:41:23,470 --> 00:41:24,890 Things were going well. 811 00:41:24,890 --> 00:41:28,242 We were just starting the first gimbal test. 812 00:41:28,242 --> 00:41:31,742 (rocket engines blasting) 813 00:41:32,670 --> 00:41:35,875 You see these engines and they look like they're dancing. 814 00:41:35,875 --> 00:41:38,230 (rocket engines blasting) 815 00:41:38,230 --> 00:41:40,220 We got 62 seconds into test 816 00:41:42,020 --> 00:41:43,592 and we shut down. 817 00:41:43,592 --> 00:41:44,680 (indistinct) 818 00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:45,933 Gotcha. 819 00:41:45,933 --> 00:41:47,687 (indistinct) safety violation (indistinct). 820 00:41:49,370 --> 00:41:54,370 There was an announcement, major component malfunction. 821 00:41:54,444 --> 00:41:57,944 (rocket engines blasting) 822 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:03,940 And in that moment, you kind of feel the light shift 823 00:42:03,940 --> 00:42:05,583 in your direction a little bit. 824 00:42:07,350 --> 00:42:08,183 What did I miss? 825 00:42:08,183 --> 00:42:09,840 What did I not see? 826 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:12,870 Certainly all of that is going through your mind. 827 00:42:12,870 --> 00:42:16,180 Rockets operate on such a very narrow margin 828 00:42:16,180 --> 00:42:20,500 that when something is called a major component malfunction, 829 00:42:20,500 --> 00:42:22,878 you sit up and take notice. 830 00:42:22,878 --> 00:42:24,390 {\an8}(indistinct) personnel. 831 00:42:24,390 --> 00:42:25,430 {\an8}Shut down looks like 832 00:42:25,430 --> 00:42:28,523 {\an8}let's all go to page 656, page 656, please. 833 00:42:30,860 --> 00:42:33,910 {\an8}When something like that occurs and you shut down, 834 00:42:33,910 --> 00:42:36,230 the first thing you're doing is just securing the hardware. 835 00:42:36,230 --> 00:42:38,460 You know, we've got flight hardware sitting on the pad 836 00:42:38,460 --> 00:42:40,670 {\an8}and it still has cryogenics in it. 837 00:42:40,670 --> 00:42:43,650 {\an8}The best way to drain the tank is to burn for eight minutes 838 00:42:43,650 --> 00:42:45,960 and then I don't have those cryogenics in it, 839 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:49,020 but I've got cryogenics that's really, really cold, 840 00:42:49,020 --> 00:42:51,610 and then I've got an engine that's really, really hot, 841 00:42:51,610 --> 00:42:54,942 and I wanna make sure all of those systems are safe. 842 00:42:54,942 --> 00:42:56,260 All personnel it's gonna be 843 00:42:56,260 --> 00:42:58,490 post hot-fire shut down securing operations 844 00:42:58,490 --> 00:42:59,980 in page 656. 845 00:42:59,980 --> 00:43:04,980 At this point, the core stage is a golden egg for NASA. 846 00:43:06,060 --> 00:43:09,250 Meaning there is nothing else on the shelf 847 00:43:09,250 --> 00:43:10,453 that can replace it. 848 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:14,470 If something happened that broke the egg, 849 00:43:14,470 --> 00:43:17,000 that could be the end of mission event. 850 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:18,560 AR1 (indistinct) please verify 851 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:20,540 we have a safe engine shutdown. 852 00:43:20,540 --> 00:43:21,470 We are in post shutdown, 853 00:43:21,470 --> 00:43:24,770 standby, engine 1 through 4. 854 00:43:24,770 --> 00:43:28,443 It took a good hour to figure out what went wrong. 855 00:43:29,310 --> 00:43:31,700 For this first test NASA has set 856 00:43:31,700 --> 00:43:34,833 very tight limits to avoid damaging the flight hardware. 857 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:37,800 One limit has been reached. 858 00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:40,760 But after carefully reviewing all the gathered data 859 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:43,590 engineers determined that it can be safely relaxed 860 00:43:43,590 --> 00:43:44,873 ahead of a new test. 861 00:43:45,900 --> 00:43:47,567 You know, people misunderstand tests, 862 00:43:47,567 --> 00:43:49,600 they're not stunts, they're not media events, 863 00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:51,980 what they are is they're answers to questions 864 00:43:51,980 --> 00:43:53,020 that you had. 865 00:43:53,020 --> 00:43:55,080 You're looking at the historic 866 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,013 B Test Complex at NASA's- 867 00:43:57,930 --> 00:43:59,520 So for the second hot fire, 868 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:02,130 we recognized that both the media, 869 00:44:02,130 --> 00:44:05,190 and really the eyes within NASA and the program 870 00:44:05,190 --> 00:44:07,414 were watching this core stage test. 871 00:44:07,414 --> 00:44:10,914 (rocket engines blasting) 872 00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:13,960 And we get to that first gimballing, 873 00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:17,631 it was the longest that I had ever held my breath. 874 00:44:17,631 --> 00:44:18,950 (rocket engines blasting) 875 00:44:18,950 --> 00:44:20,990 The only way I can explain that core stage test 876 00:44:20,990 --> 00:44:25,578 is the whole atmosphere was shaking like an earthquake. 877 00:44:25,578 --> 00:44:28,440 (rocket engines blasting) 878 00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:30,210 The thought goes through my mind still, 879 00:44:30,210 --> 00:44:31,910 how does that thing stay together? 880 00:44:33,292 --> 00:44:35,321 (rocket engines blasting) 881 00:44:35,321 --> 00:44:37,978 We were entering unchartered waters, if you will, 882 00:44:37,978 --> 00:44:40,300 to get to the end of the test and to run 883 00:44:40,300 --> 00:44:42,750 a full eight minutes and deplete 884 00:44:42,750 --> 00:44:44,485 both of the propellant tanks. 885 00:44:44,485 --> 00:44:46,130 (dramatic music) 886 00:44:46,130 --> 00:44:50,280 Being able to see Space Launch System come to life, 887 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:53,510 do exactly what it was supposed to do and to perform 888 00:44:53,510 --> 00:44:56,840 and be able to deplete out the fuel system, 889 00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:57,860 that's a dream come true 890 00:44:57,860 --> 00:45:00,818 for any rocket propulsion engineer out there. 891 00:45:00,818 --> 00:45:05,818 (rocket engines blasting) (dramatic music) 892 00:45:06,177 --> 00:45:07,910 It was extraordinary to accomplish. 893 00:45:07,910 --> 00:45:08,790 Chanel 16. 894 00:45:08,790 --> 00:45:11,653 There was a lot of emotion in the test control room. 895 00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:16,550 There was joy, there was high fives and hugs 896 00:45:16,550 --> 00:45:18,913 {\an8}and maybe a few tears that were shed. 897 00:45:20,990 --> 00:45:23,713 {\an8}It was absolutely a sigh of relief. 898 00:45:24,940 --> 00:45:27,820 {\an8}I saw these components as sheets of paper, 899 00:45:27,820 --> 00:45:29,880 and I actually saw them being built. 900 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:34,760 Then I saw them all come together and work as a single unit. 901 00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:36,210 These are my babies, right. 902 00:45:36,210 --> 00:45:38,980 So when you go to a soccer game or football game 903 00:45:38,980 --> 00:45:41,410 for your child and they make a goal 904 00:45:41,410 --> 00:45:43,680 or they catch a ball, they hit a home run, 905 00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:46,020 you're gonna scream, right, "Yay. Good job." 906 00:45:46,020 --> 00:45:47,557 And so for me, I'm screaming for 907 00:45:47,557 --> 00:45:49,337 "Yay (indistinct), do your job. 908 00:45:49,337 --> 00:45:53,016 "Yay, prevalve, yay, feed line." (laughs) 909 00:45:53,016 --> 00:45:54,969 Safe and shutdown. 910 00:45:54,969 --> 00:45:57,900 (dramatic music) 911 00:45:57,900 --> 00:46:00,523 All personnel that fixes the page 656- 912 00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:04,790 We all took a few hours to celebrate that 913 00:46:04,790 --> 00:46:06,830 and then we were onto the next task, 914 00:46:06,830 --> 00:46:09,410 which was getting the stage loaded onto a barge 915 00:46:09,410 --> 00:46:11,501 and shipped to the Kennedy Space Center. 916 00:46:11,501 --> 00:46:14,334 (dramatic music) 917 00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:20,960 When the core stage arrived by barge, 918 00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:23,020 it did create a buzz, you know, 919 00:46:23,020 --> 00:46:25,030 that was a big day for us, right, 920 00:46:25,030 --> 00:46:26,630 because that was the very last piece 921 00:46:26,630 --> 00:46:27,830 of the puzzle we needed. 922 00:46:28,733 --> 00:46:31,240 (dramatic music) 923 00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:32,840 All the parts of the rocket are now here 924 00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:34,511 at Kennedy Space Center. 925 00:46:34,511 --> 00:46:37,344 (dramatic music) 926 00:46:38,470 --> 00:46:42,430 Now the next big step is we'll lift it and go up and over 927 00:46:42,430 --> 00:46:43,950 and into the High Bay 3 928 00:46:43,950 --> 00:46:46,063 and actually attach it to the boosters. 929 00:46:48,972 --> 00:46:49,805 (dramatic music) 930 00:46:49,805 --> 00:46:53,500 So now you have two boosters and a core stage. 931 00:46:53,500 --> 00:46:55,668 Then we just continue stacking. 932 00:46:55,668 --> 00:46:57,770 You start at the bottom and you just keep building blocks, 933 00:46:57,770 --> 00:46:59,832 you know, you just stack them and you keep going up. 934 00:46:59,832 --> 00:47:02,582 (dramatic music) 935 00:47:04,292 --> 00:47:05,125 (upbeat music) 936 00:47:05,125 --> 00:47:07,270 Among the last pieces to be stacked 937 00:47:07,270 --> 00:47:09,990 will be the crew and service vehicles. 938 00:47:09,990 --> 00:47:13,877 Our crew vehicle is the Orion Spacecraft. 939 00:47:13,877 --> 00:47:17,648 (light upbeat music) 940 00:47:17,648 --> 00:47:19,880 That Orion Capsule is a lot more than a capsule 941 00:47:19,880 --> 00:47:21,050 that goes to low-Earth orbit, 942 00:47:21,050 --> 00:47:23,330 it goes faster, has a stronger heat shield, 943 00:47:23,330 --> 00:47:26,630 it can handle the environment of deep space 944 00:47:26,630 --> 00:47:28,644 like the high energy neutrons much better. 945 00:47:28,644 --> 00:47:30,490 (light upbeat music) 946 00:47:30,490 --> 00:47:33,160 Space Launch Systems first uncrewed mission, 947 00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:37,100 Artemis 1 would be a momentous flight for the rocket, 948 00:47:37,100 --> 00:47:40,080 but more importantly a critical validation 949 00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:42,780 of the Orion vehicle's safety. 950 00:47:42,780 --> 00:47:44,620 The main thing they want is a successful 951 00:47:44,620 --> 00:47:48,460 loop around the moon, come back and then test that re-entry. 952 00:47:48,460 --> 00:47:51,860 And that reentry should be capable of bringing them back 953 00:47:51,860 --> 00:47:55,070 from lunar orbit at about 25,000 miles an hour. 954 00:47:55,070 --> 00:47:58,350 So it'll be a high performance reentry shield 955 00:47:58,350 --> 00:47:59,482 that's for sure. 956 00:47:59,482 --> 00:48:01,430 (pondering music) 957 00:48:01,430 --> 00:48:05,704 That was one of our prime objectives of developing SLS. 958 00:48:05,704 --> 00:48:07,790 (pondering music) 959 00:48:07,790 --> 00:48:11,290 And in Artemis we will be carrying Orion and the crew 960 00:48:12,450 --> 00:48:13,283 to the moon. 961 00:48:16,040 --> 00:48:18,370 The Artemis project is something that encompasses, 962 00:48:18,370 --> 00:48:21,270 you know, nearly everything we're doing at NASA right now. 963 00:48:23,030 --> 00:48:26,210 In my team, we do a lot of the propulsion testing 964 00:48:26,210 --> 00:48:29,410 for the technologies that Artemis is going to rely on 965 00:48:29,410 --> 00:48:31,700 to get back to the moon and to go beyond. 966 00:48:31,700 --> 00:48:33,370 (pondering music) 967 00:48:33,370 --> 00:48:34,930 I mean, sometimes it can be overwhelming 968 00:48:34,930 --> 00:48:37,170 when you think about everything in the daisy chain 969 00:48:37,170 --> 00:48:40,290 that has to go right to be successful. 970 00:48:40,290 --> 00:48:42,790 But you know, if it was easy, 971 00:48:42,790 --> 00:48:44,803 everybody would be doing it, right. 972 00:48:46,530 --> 00:48:49,440 It's not meant to just, you know, take a return visit 973 00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:50,700 back to the moon. 974 00:48:50,700 --> 00:48:54,550 We will be able to create a presence on the moon, 975 00:48:54,550 --> 00:48:57,720 a lunar outpost that we'll be able to facilitate 976 00:48:57,720 --> 00:49:00,240 multiple visits to the moon and then venture 977 00:49:00,240 --> 00:49:03,333 onto deep space destinations, including Mars. 978 00:49:04,817 --> 00:49:08,210 (dramatic music) 979 00:49:08,210 --> 00:49:09,950 We know what's at stake, 980 00:49:09,950 --> 00:49:12,800 not just all the work that's been put forth for everyone, 981 00:49:13,670 --> 00:49:15,867 it's also the lives of astronauts. 982 00:49:15,867 --> 00:49:17,950 (dramatic music) 983 00:49:17,950 --> 00:49:20,030 We need to make sure that we're a program 984 00:49:20,030 --> 00:49:22,410 that can sustain itself, that meets that mission 985 00:49:22,410 --> 00:49:24,492 to take us all the way to Mars. 986 00:49:24,492 --> 00:49:27,220 (dramatic music) 987 00:49:27,220 --> 00:49:30,270 For me, these hard missions, these missions that we do 988 00:49:30,270 --> 00:49:35,035 because they are hard, they measure the very best of us. 989 00:49:35,035 --> 00:49:38,500 (dramatic music) 990 00:49:38,500 --> 00:49:41,080 They combine our efforts across nations 991 00:49:42,320 --> 00:49:44,915 and across people groups. 992 00:49:44,915 --> 00:49:46,670 (futuristic music) 993 00:49:46,670 --> 00:49:48,091 They make us better. 994 00:49:48,091 --> 00:49:50,841 (dramatic music) 995 00:50:00,459 --> 00:50:03,459 (light outro music) 996 00:50:34,554 --> 00:50:37,050 (light outro music)