Amazing footage shows the world's largest and most powerful rocket booster blast into the desert as NASA tested its new deep space rocket.
Thousands gathered to watch NASA try out its Space Launch System (SLS) on Tuesday - which is expected to fly astronauts towards Mars in the future.
The rocket booster successfully fired up on Tuesday during its second qualification ground test at Orbital ATK's test facilities in Promontory, Utah.
According to NASA, this was the last full-scale test for the booster before the SLS’s first uncrewed test flight with its Orion spacecraft in late 2018.
“This final qualification test of the booster system shows real progress in the development of the Space Launch System,” said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“Seeing this test today, and experiencing the sound and feel of approximately 3.6 million pounds of thrust, helps us appreciate the progress we’re making to advance human exploration and open new frontiers for science and technology missions in deep space.”
When ignited, temperatures inside the booster reached nearly 6,000 degrees.
Engineers now will evaluate the data collected from the test and use it for the planned space launch.
The solid rocket boosters, built by NASA contractor Orbital ATK, will provide more than 75 per cent of the thrust needed for the rocket and Orion spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravitational pull.