On March 4, crew members ready a 900-pound steel beam to “top out” Test Stand 4697, which is under construction to test the Space Launch System liquid oxygen tank at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Topping out” is a builders’ rite traditionally held when the last beam is placed on top of a structure during its construction. The 85-foot-tall test stand will use hydraulic cylinders to subject the liquid oxygen tank and hardware of the massive SLS core stage to the same loads and stresses it will endure during a launch. The tests also will verify the models already in place that predict the amount of loads the core stage can withstand during launch and ascent. Prime contractor Brasfield & Gorrie of Birmingham, Alabama, and several of its subcontractors are constructing Test Stand 4697 and Test Stand 4693, which will have a twin-tower configuration and conduct similar structural tests on the SLS core stage’s liquid hydrogen tank. Both stands are scheduled to be completed later this year. SLS will be the world’s most powerful rocket and carry astronauts in NASA’s Orion spacecraft on deep-space missions, including the journey to Mars.
View Flickr Gallery on NASA Marshall’s Test Stand 4697
Image Credit: NASA/Marshall/Emmett Given