--- title: "After Years of Delays, NASA Unveils Its Most Powerful Rocket" description: "After many years of delay, NASA has finally shown off its Space Launch System (SLS) that aims to ferry American astronauts to the Moon as soon as 2024." date: "2019-12-10" modified: "2019-12-10" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/nasa-most-powerful-rocket" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "moon" - "NASA" - "sls" --- # After Years of Delays, NASA Unveils Its Most Powerful Rocket ![After many years of delay, NASA has finally shown off its Space Launch System (SLS) that aims to ferry American astronauts to the Moon as soon as 2024.]() *\Image: NASA\* After many [years of delay](), NASA has finally shown off its Space Launch System (SLS), which it plans to use to ferry American astronauts to the Moon as soon as 2024. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told the public over the weekend that the rocket is "the most powerful rocket ever built," [*Engadget* reports](). Bridenstine also [uploaded a video]() to Twitter yesterday of NASA running a test version of the SLS's gigantic liquid hydrogen fuel tank through its paces last week, intentionally breaking it in the process. It was capable of withstanding "more than 260% of expected flight loads over five hours before engineers detected a buckling point," according to a [NASA statement](). The tank is part of the SLS core stage and will play a critical role in NASA's Artemis cargo and astronaut missions to the Moon. NASA claims it's the only rocket that can pack Orion, NASA's deep space spacecraft, astronauts and supplies to the lunar surface in one go. The SLS project has faced many years of delays and has reportedly gone way over budget, costing an estimated [$17 billion]() to develop. NASA had also originally planned its first test flight to happen this year. It's truly humongous, making up most of the height of NASA's 215-foot-tall test stand. In fact, the test is the "largest-ever controlled test-to-failure of a NASA rocket stage pressurized tank," according to the lead test engineer for the tank Mike Nichols. "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," Neil Otte, chief engineer of the SLS Stages Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center, said in the statement. **READ MORE:** [NASA unveils 'the most powerful rocket ever built']() \[*Engadget*\] **More on SLS:** *[Here’s How Boeing is Planning to Get Astronauts to the Moon]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()