NASA's Mars rocket to launch on maiden voyage in 2018

Artist's concept of SLS MKI on the launchpad. NASA/MSFC

"We are on a journey of scientific and human exploration that leads to Mars," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "And we're firmly committed to building the launch vehicle and other supporting systems that will take us on that journey."

The SLS will carry the Orion spacecraft, which in turn will carry the Mars explorers. For its first test flight, the SLS will be configured with a 70-metric-ton lift capacity and carry an uncrewed Orion craft beyond low-Earth orbit. The final version of the rocket is slated for a lift capacity of 130 metric tons, which will enable missions to destinations as far as Mars.

"Our nation is embarked on an ambitious space exploration program, and we owe it to the American taxpayers to get it right," said Associate Administrator and review process overseer Robert Lightfoot. "After rigorous review, we're committing today to a funding level and readiness date that will keep us on track to sending humans to Mars in the 2030s -- and we're going to stand behind that commitment."

The Orion spacecraft is scheduled for an uncrewed test flight of its own on December 4 of this year, attached to a Delta IV Heavy rocket. This flight, Exploration Test Flight 1, will test several of the Orion's key systems, including avionics, heat shielding and parachutes.

"We are keeping each part of the program -- the rocket, ground systems, and Orion -- moving at its best possible speed toward the first integrated test launch," said NASA Exploration Systems Development director Bill Hill. "We are on a solid path toward an integrated mission and making progress in all three programs every day."

The first of the three SLS rockets is projected to cost $7.021 billion, and the entire project around $12 billion.

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NASA's own super-black coating ventures into space

The super-black material is on the far right. NASA/Bill Squicciarini

The announcement of Vantablack made quite a splash recently since its creators called it the "world's darkest material." It may hold the terrestrial crown, but NASA has sent its own super-black nano-coating up to the International Space Station for testing.

Like Vantablack, NASA's super-black coating is composed of carbon nanotubes, designed to improve optical instruments by making them more sensitive without needing to make them any bigger than they already are. The coating is 10,000 times thinner than a strand of human hair. Its ability to absorb stray light far outperforms the black paint that is typically used on instruments.

The coating has been in development for six years, with the project being led by NASA Principal Investigator John Hagopian, an optics engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The material has been put through the paces in laboratories, but it's now ready for its space debut. "The objective is to determine how well this coating survives the harsh space environment," says Hagopian.

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Two test trays of the material arrived at the space station on August 12. It will be exposed to space for a year before being sent back to Earth for evaluation.

Hagopian is fine with his coating not being the blackest in existence. He's more concerned about the material surviving the rigors of space, which includes exposure to harsh radiation. "We are focusing on making our coatings robust and not necessarily the blackest for now," he says.

If the material makes it through its first space voyage, it could then get a trial in an actual space instrument, perhaps hitching a ride on a CubeSat, a type of tiny satellite. Ultimately, the research could result in more accurate optical instruments, letting researchers peer farther out into the universe to discover new astronomical objects.

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