NASA Tests Powerful Booster for Deep-Space Missions

NASA on Tuesday, June 28, completed a second successful test of a booster that will be part of what it calls the most powerful rocket in the world, Space Launch System. The rocket will enable NASA to conduct deep-space missions, including a hoped-for a mission to Mars.

It’s the second test for the booster, with the first coming in a hot setting. Tuesday’s test was in a colder setting and was the last full-scale test of the booster before the Space Launch System’s uncrewed test flight in late 2018 with the Orion spacecraft. The Orion is intended to take crews of four astronauts on long-distance journeys, including a trip to Mars. Credit: Facebook/NASA