A piece of the NASA’s Space Launch System, currently being assembled to launch on deep space missions, was damaged at a New Orleans facility, a spokesperson for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center told News 6.
The rear dome of a liquid oxygen tank for the core stage of the rocket was damaged May 3 at the Michoud Assembly Facility, NASA officials said.
No one was injured during the incident, Marshall Space Flight Center public affairs officer Kim Henry said.
The Vertical Assembly Center was shut down, which is standard protocol. Assessments are underway to determine the extent of the damage before NASA decides on the next steps to safety resume operations at the facility, Henry said.
The incident was classified as a “Type B” mishap, Spacenew.com reported, that could cause between $500,000 and $2 million in damage.
Boeing and NASA are independently investigating the incident at the facility where the SLS core stage is being assembled.
A spokeswoman for Boeing said she was unable to comment about the incident, but said Boeing is building the core stage for the rocket, its largest piece.
NASA described the core stage as the “backbone” of the SLS rocket, which will stand more than 200 feet tall.
Welding on the flight engine section of the core stage was completed in April, requiring more than 1.7 million welds, according to NASA.
Several other parts of the massive rocket are undergoing testing and assembly at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, including four RS-25 engines.
SLS will eventually launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with the Orion spacecraft to Mars.
NASA could not confirm if the damage will push back the first SLS test mission scheduled for 2018.