Suggested Searches

1 min read

NASA Completes Test Version of SLS Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter

A crane lifts the structural test article of the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA)
A crane lifts the structural test article of the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) after final manufacturing on a 30-foot welding tool at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

A crane lifts the structural test article of the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) after final manufacturing on a 30-foot welding tool at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The LVSA will connect two major sections of the upper part of NASA’s Space Launch System — the core stage and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) — for the first flight of the rocket and the Orion spacecraft. 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.

Later this year at Marshall, the test version of the LVSA will be stacked with other structural test articles of the upper part of SLS. Engineers will examine test data and compare it to computer models to verify the integrity of the hardware and ensure it can withstand the forces it will experience during flight. The hardware’s cone shape is due to the ICPS having a smaller diameter than the rocket’s core stage. Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville is the prime contractor for the LVSA.

Image Credit: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given