Aderholt Praises SLS Team on Completion of Preliminary Design Review
Aderholt Praises SLS Team on Completion of Preliminary Design Review
Washington, D.C.— Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04) praised Marshall Space Flight Center and the Space Launch System (SLS) team on completing its Preliminary Design Review.
“I commend Marshall Space Flight Center and the SLS team and all of those who have been a part of the process, on completing their Preliminary Design Review,” said Aderholt. “This is a major milestone. It means that—after a thorough review—experts throughout the agency and industry agree that this program is on track and is able to perform its mission.”
“This rocket program has made remarkable progress in only two years—combining legacy hardware and knowledge with innovative new techniques to create a launch system that adds critical capability exceeding our current family of rockets. Further, at a time when funding space related programs are particularly challenging, the rapid progress and success of SLS helps to validate the importance of investing in these programs. Other nations are not slowing their space programs; the United States must not either,” concluded Aderholt.
The initial 70-metric-ton version of the Space Launch System will stand 321 feet tall, provide 8.4 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, and carry 154,000 pounds of payload. The rocket is scheduled for its first mission, Exploration Mission 1, to launch an unscrewed Orion spacecraft in 2017. The mission’s goal is to demonstrate the integrated system performance of the SLS rocket and spacecraft before a crewed flight in 2021.
Aderholt currently serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies for the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is a member of the Committee’s Commerce, Justice and Science; and Homeland Security Subcommittees, and also serves on the Helsinki Commission.
For more information about Aderholt’s work in Congress visit www.aderholt.house.gov.