Science and Exploration

SLS Launch Pad Hardware Undergoes Test

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
August 5, 2016
Filed under ,
SLS Launch Pad Hardware Undergoes Test
Tail Service Mast Umbilical
NASA

A crane lowers the first Tail Service Mast Umbilical (TSMU) onto a test stand at the Launch Equipment Test Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Two TSMUs will provide liquid propellants and power to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage engine. Both TSMUs will connect to the zero-level deck on the mobile launcher, providing fuel and electricity to the SLS rocket before it launches on Exploration Mission 1. The TSMU will undergo testing and validation at the LETF to verify it is functioning properly. The center’s Engineering Directorate and the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program are overseeing processing and testing of the umbilicals.

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.