NASA tests the massive rocket booster it says will go to Mars

By Christian Davenport

NASA tests the largest, most powerful booster in the world for its new deep space rocket, the Space Launch System. According to NASA, the SLS and the Orion spacecraft will launch astronauts on missions to explore destinations on the journey to Mars. (NASA TV)

NASA on Tuesday tested one of the solid rocket boosters that would power its new rocket, the Space Launch System, which the agency hopes will one day fly to Mars. Shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern time, NASA fired the engine, sending a torrent of fire gushing from the nozzle and a volcano-like plume of smoke that could be seen for miles.

After an hour delay because of a glitch with the ground computer system, the booster fired horizontally for just over two minutes at a test site in Utah, burning through 5.5 tons of propellant per second, shooting flames out at three times the speed of sound, with temperatures that were expected to reach 3,700 degrees. The booster test comes ahead of the rocket's first mission, planned for 2018, when it would launch the unmanned Orion spacecraft on a three-week journey that would take it around the moon

LIVE NOW: Streaming coverage of our 11:05am ET @NASA_SLS rocket booster test firing. Watch: https://t.co/KX5g7zfYQehttps://t.co/XUhZQzLbpB

— NASA (@NASA) 28 de junio de 2016

After the test, officials at NASA and Orbital ATK, the Dulles-based contractor that built the booster, said it was a success.

Fired up! Miss today's booster test for @NASA_SLS, the world’s most powerful rocket? Watch it now:#JourneyToMars
https://t.co/wRVh32cTVc

— NASA (@NASA) 28 de junio de 2016

“Seeing this test today, and experiencing the sound and feel of approximately 3.6 million pounds of thrust, helps us appreciate the progress we’re making to advance human exploration and open new frontiers for science and technology missions in deep space,” William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA, said in a statement.

"That rumble that you get is awesome," Charlie Precourt,vice president and general manager of Orbital ATK’s Propulsion Systems Division, said on NASA TV. "We made it through exactly what we were looking for."

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