Checking in on SLS Core Stage production while waiting for the post-election dust to settle

Everyone is waiting to see what plans are in store for the second President Trump term after he was re-elected, but it's less than a week since Election Day; in the meantime, I'll recap my recent interview with NASA SLS Stages manager Steve Wofford. Boeing has completed the first two stage units and handed them over to NASA, so I asked about the current production status for the next three builds. NASA has two of them fully under contract, so I asked how the next one, the fifth unit, is being contracted.

I also go over a couple of non-election news items: SpaceX announced a target launch date for the next Starship flight test and apparently has decided not to lease High Bay 1 in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center.

Couple of footnotes:

1. Adding a link in the video to the NSF story ended up being more distracting than it was worth; the link is in the description below.

2. In the video, I refer to "Michoud," which is NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. That's the primary production site for SLS stages.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

Stories, papers cited:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/11/core-stage-facility-expansion/
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20230001023
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/07/nx-s1-5182280/trump-2024-elon-musk-tesla-x

00:00 Intro
00:33 Recap of interview with NASA SLS Stages Element manager Steve Wofford
01:42 Restarting production of Core Stage main propulsion system components
08:40 Core Stage-3 production status
14:12 Core Stage-4 production status
18:49 When is Core Stage-5 engine section production going to start?
23:25 News and notes for the week, Trump re-elected
24:14 Starship flight test 6 target launch date announced
24:53 VAB High Bay 1 commercial lease status
27:10 Thanks for watching!

Тэги:

#NASA #Artemis #Artemis_III #Artemis_IV #EGS #Exploration_Ground_Systems #Space_Launch_System #SLS #Kennedy_Space_Center #Vehicle_Assembly_Building #High_Bay_2 #High_Bay_1 #Space_Systems_Processing_Facility #SSPF #Core_Stage #Boeing #Michoud_Assembly_Facility #MAF #Michoud #Core_Stage-3 #Core_Stage-4 #Core_Stage-5 #production #SpaceX #Starship

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