NASA builds the world's largest welder — to construct the world's most powerful rocket


NASA Administrator Charles Bolden unveiled the world's largest welder on Friday at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
The 170-foot-tall welder will be used to construct NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will be the world's most powerful rocket. The welder will assemble the pieces of the SLS's core stage, which includes putting together domes, rings, and barrels. The core stage will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for the rocket's missions.
The rocket, which will be more than 212 feet tall when completed, will launch astronauts "farther into deep space than ever before possible," Universe Today reports. The SLS will take crews from NASA's Orion deep space capsule to Mars and to asteroids.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"This rocket is a game changer in terms of deep space exploration and will launch NASA astronauts to investigate asteroids and explore the surface of Mars while opening new possibilities for science missions," Bolden said at the ceremony. "The road to Mars starts at Michoud."
The SLS's maiden test launch will be held in November 2018, and associate administrator Robert Lightfoot said at the event that the SLS will help humans reach Mars by the 2030s. --Meghan DeMaria
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beat
speed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammals
Speed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its prey
Speed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brain
Speed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'
Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggests
Speed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening