spacetoday.net: Report finds costs of SLS test stands soared

Report finds costs of SLS test stands soared

Posted: Sun, May 21, 2017, 10:01 AM ET (1401 GMT)
The cost of two test stands build for NASA's SLS nearly doubled as the agency sought to accelerate their construction. A recent report by NASA's Office of Inspector General found that the stands, designed for load testing of the rocket's liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks, cost 87 percent more than originally planned. NASA paid a premium to build the stands in an effort to keep them on track to support a first SLS launch by the end of 2017. Ultimately, that accelerated schedule was not needed as the first SLS launch has now slipped to 2019. Design changes to the stands also caused their cost to increase.