World's Largest Spacecraft Welding Tool

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NASA Unveils World's Largest Spacecraft Welding Tool for Space Launch System

The largest spacecraft welding tool in the world, the Vertical Assembly Center officially is open for business at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The 170-foot-tall, 78-foot-wide giant completes a world-class welding toolkit that will be used to build the core stage of America's next great rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).

SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually Mars. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall (61 meters) with a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 meters), will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the rocket's four RS-25 engines.

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Building the Backbone of the Space Launch System

The largest spacecraft welding tool in the world, the Vertical Assembly Center officially is open for business at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The 170-foot-tall, 78-foot-wide giant completes a world-class welding toolkit that will be used to build the core stage of America's next great rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually Mars. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall (61 meters) with a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 meters), will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the rocket's four RS-25 engines.

Credit: NASA/MSFC

Source: NASA - Multimedia

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NASA Administrator Marks Completion of World’s Largest Spacecraft Welding Tool for SLS

NASA’s new Vertical Assembly Center (VAC), a 170-foot-high marvel of machinery that will be used to assemble elements of the agency's Space Launch System (SLS), now is complete and ready to weld parts for the rocket that will send humans to an asteroid and Mars. Media was invited to join NASA Administrator Charles Bolden at the ribbon cutting for the enormous new tool at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where the core stage is being built. Bolden and other officials from NASA and Boeing, the prime contractor for the SLS core stage and avionics participated in the ceremony.

The Vertical Assembly Center will be used to join domes, rings and barrels segments to complete the SLS fuel tanks. The tool also will be used to perform evaluations of the completed welds. Towering more than 200 feet tall, with a diameter of 27.6 feet, the core stage will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to feed the vehicle’s RS-25 engines.

Credit: NASA

Source: NASA - Multimedia