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Capping off a Core Stage Confidence Tank

Todd Gough installs the end cap test fixture on a weld confidence article of the liquid oxygen tank for NASA's new rocket
Todd Gough, a Boeing fabrication specialist at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, installs the end cap test fixture on a weld confidence article of the liquid oxygen tank for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System. Confidence hardware verifies weld procedures are working as planned and tooling-to-hardware interfaces are correct.

Todd Gough, a Boeing fabrication specialist at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, installs the end cap test fixture on a weld confidence article of the liquid oxygen tank for NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System. Confidence hardware verifies weld procedures are working as planned and tooling-to-hardware interfaces are correct. The end cap text fixture is used to control environments inside the tank and will be used when the tank is moved to another part of the facility for thermal protection system process development. The confidence article will be used in developing the application process for the thermal protection system, which is the insulation foam that gives the tank its orange color. The liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks make up the SLS core stage. Towering more than 200 feet tall with a diameter of 27.6 feet, the core stage will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle’s four RS-25 engines. SLS will be the world’s most powerful rocket and enable human missions to deep space, including Mars. The Boeing Co., headquartered in Chicago, is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, including avionics.

Image Credit: NASA/Michoud/Steven Seipel