Pence to visit NASA centre building deep space mission rocket

Washington: US Vice President Mike Pence is set to visit NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama on Monday which is building the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket along with the other technologies and systems needed to send astronauts into deep space.

The visit will give Pence an update on the progress of the SLS rocket and International Space Station science operations as the agency prepares for missions to deep space, around the Moon and ultimately to Mars, NASA said in a statement on Sunday.

NASA has set its goal of sending humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s. 

"The Vice President will tour Marshall's Payload Operations Integration Centre, where all scientific research aboard the station is managed around-the-clock, 365 days a year. This research is helping people learn how to live and work in space for long periods," the US space agency added.

The Vice President will see a test with the engine section of the SLS core stage - the largest rocket stage ever built for the world's most powerful rocket. 

The four RS-25 engines and the two solid rocket boosters that attach to the engine section will produce more than eight million pounds of thrust to help send the Orion crew vehicle farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever traveled before.

While at Redstone Arsenal, where Marshall is located, Pence will visit the US Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Centre for briefs from Army leaders on current missile defence projects and Army initiatives, the statement added.