Kablam! Watch NASA Crush a SLS Megarocket Fuel Tank Until It Explodes (Video)

If you've ever wondered what a giant rocket fuel tank looks like after exploding, a new NASA video has you covered.

In the video, which NASA released Monday (Dec. 9), engineers have purposefully exploded a test version of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's propellant tank. In doing so, they found that the tank can handle a lot more than they expect the real version to encounter in flight.

At NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, engineers pushed the test tank full of liquid hydrogen way past its limits. The tank aced the test, withstanding more than 260% of expected flight loads for over five hours, at which point engineers spotted a buckling point, which soon burst. 

"We purposely took this tank to its extreme limits and broke it because pushing systems to the point of failure gives us additional data to help us build rockets intelligently," Neil Otte, chief engineer of the SLS Stages Office at Marshall, said in a NASA statement. "We will be flying the Space Launch System for decades to come, and breaking the propellant tank today will help us safely and efficiently evolve the SLS rocket as our desired missions evolve." 

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Previously, the tank completed tests in which it withstood the extreme forces that it's expected to be exposed to with engine thrust. During these earlier tests, the tank showed no signs of cracking or breaking at all. 

For all of these tank tests, both NASA and Boeing engineers simulated a liftoff with the flight stresses that come along with that. The test version of the SLS liquid hydrogen tank that is used for these tests is structurally identical to the actual flight tank. To recreate accurate flight stresses, the engineers use gaseous nitrogen and large hydraulic pistons to create intense compression, tension and pressure.

"This final tank test marks the largest-ever controlled test-to-failure of a NASA rocket stage pressurized tank," Mike Nichols, Marshall's lead test engineer for the tank, added in the statement. "This data will benefit all aerospace companies designing rocket tanks." 

Not only did the tank prove that it could withstand some serious pressure – it performed in line with what was predicted by a Boeing analysis team. "The initial tank buckling failure occurred at the same relative location as predicted by the Boeing analysis team and initiated within 3% of the predicted failure load," Luke Denney, qualification test manager for Boeing's Test & Evaluation Group, said in the statement. "The accuracy of these predictions against real life testing validates our structural models and provides high confidence in the tank design."

This test was a major step forward in finalizing the SLS core stage for NASA's Artemis program. In fact, just a few days after this successful test, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine revealed the assembled rocket core stage for SLS at Artemis Day at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

NASA plans for SLS to soon launch the Orion spacecraft to the moon or the proposed lunar Gateway with astronauts and supplies onboard. 

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