NASA blows hole in world’s largest rocket fuel tank (on purpose)

Sometimes, NASA blows up rockets on purpose — for science!

Such was the case on Dec. 5 when engineers put a replica of the world’s largest fuel tank, NASA’s Space Launch System liquid hydrogen tank, through a rigorous pressure test that literally blew it apart to see how much stress it could take.

And NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine shared video of the test for us all to enjoy. 

The test, which went down at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was another important step in NASA’s Artemis program. It aims to send people back to the moon by 2024, including the first woman to walk on the lunar surface. 

The tank had previously been through dozens of other tests that, according to NASA, “simulated liftoff and flight stresses” before engineers blew the giant hole in its side. The tank blew after taking on more than 260 percent of “expected flight loads” over the course of five hours. 

NASA and Boeing monitored every aspect of the rocket during the test, using “thousands of sensors” as well as high-speed cameras and microphones. 

Built at NASA’s Michoud facility just outside New Orleans, the tank stands over 130 feet tall, measures 27.6 feet in diameter, and can store 537,000 gallons of “super cooled liquid hydrogen.”

The tank is part of the SLS Core Stage. Its purpose is to “help power the four SLS core stage RS-25 engines for the 8-minute climb to orbit at more than 17,000 miles per hour.” Once assembled, the core stage will be 212 feet high, the largest rocket from NASA since the famed Saturn V rockets that were part of the Apollo program.  

In fact, on Monday, just days after the test, Bridenstine was at the Michoud facility to unveil the official SLS Core Stage that will be used for the first Artemis mission.

While there’s no specific date set so far for the first Artemis launch, you can check out NASA’s general timeline of proposed missions between 2020 and 2024 here.