this is almost half a million gallons of
water being blasted a hundred feet into
the air the most impressive part it was
all done in just 60 seconds
you
NASA created the massive fountain as
part of a test for its space launch
system scheduled to launch for the first
time in 2020 it will be the largest most
powerful rocket nASA has ever built
standing upright the SLS will reach 322
feet in height 17 feet taller than the
Statue of Liberty and weighed almost 6
million pounds its first planned mission
a 25 day trip around the moon when it
lifts off its engines will generate 8.4
million pounds of force and sound wave
so powerful that they could easily
destroy the rocket from the ground up
that's where NASA's ignition
overpressure and sound suppression
system comes in NASA projects the water
onto and over the launch pad during
ignition and lift-off this not only
protects the ground from the Rockets
engines it also prevents the sound waves
from bouncing off the ground and back up
which could cause catastrophic damage to
the engines the system also prevents the
giant flames generated by the engines
from catching anything on fire
during an actual launch some of the
water will evaporate due to the extreme
heat while the rest exits through
nozzles this test is just one of many
more than NASA will conduct over the
coming months in preparation for the
Rockets first launch the SLS is designed
for deeper space missions able to
explore far beyond Earth's orbit
it can carry astronauts in an Orion
capsule or very other cargo like
exploratory robots to distant worlds
like Jupiter and Mars pretty impressive
huh
this latest test performed in the
beginning of october was to evaluate any
needed upgrades like corrosion control
renovating the water storage tank and
checking the conditions of the pipes and
valves
now it will be in tip-top shape for when
the SLS is ready to make its debut
flight in 2020