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Test Version of the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (LVSA)

Test version of the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA)
A test version of the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) is moved to a 65-foot-tall test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

A test version of the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) is moved to a 65-foot-tall test stand at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The LVSA will connect the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket to the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). The ICPS is a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen-based system that will give Orion the big, in-space push needed to fly beyond the moon before it returns to Earth on the first flight of SLS in 2018. The test version LVSA will be stacked with other test pieces of the upper part of the SLS rocket and pushed, pulled and twisted as part of an upcoming test series to ensure each structure can withstand the incredible stresses of launch.

Image Credit: NASA/MSFC/Fred Deaton