NASA Invites Media to See Hardware for First Space Launch System Flight

	August 25, 2017  MEDIA ADVISORY M17-057 NASA Invites Media to See Hardware for First Space Launch System Flight   A NASA KAMAG transporter tractor with 96 wheels hauls the Space Launch System’s launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) to an area where spray-on foam insulation will be applied. The LVSA recently completed manufacturing on a 30-foot welding tool at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the largest piece of the rocket built in Marshall’s Huntsville manufacturing facility. Now, the LVSA will be coated with insulation that will protect it during its ride to space. The LVSA provides structural support and connects the core stage and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage during the first integrated flight of SLS and Orion. Credits: NASA/MSFC/Charles Beason Media are invited to see the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at 2 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, Aug. 29 at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The LVSA, the largest piece of the rocket built in Marshall’s Huntsville manufacturing area, will connect two major sections of SLS – the 27.6-foot diameter core stage and the 16.4-foot interim cryogenic propulsion stage – for the first integrated flight of SLS and the Orion spacecraft. This will be the last opportunity for media to view the stage adapter before it is coated with thermal insulation to protect the delicate propulsion stage systems during SLS’s ride to space. Reporters will be able to see the flight hardware inside NASA’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing where the insulation will be applied in coming months. Media interested in viewing the adapter and interviewing experts should contact Tracy McMahan in Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034 no later than 11 a.m. CDT on Tuesday Aug. 29. Media must report to the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center at Gate 9, Interstate 565 interchange at Research Park Boulevard by 1:30 p.m. CDT. Media must wear long pants and closed-toe shoes with heels no higher than two inches. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate. Photo identification and proof of car insurance is required. Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville, the prime contractor for the adapter, has completed manufacturing, and engineers are preparing to apply thermal insulation. It will be the largest piece of hardware that Marshall technicians have covered with foam insulation using a manual process. Other, larger parts of the core stage are undergoing similar manual thermal protection system applications at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, which is managed by Marshall. Video resources will be available on NASA’s Video and Imagery Library immediately following the event. For more information on SLS, visit:  http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/
	Press Contacts Tracy McMahan Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 256-544-0034 Tracy.McMahan@xxxxxxxx
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