Inside NASA's New $18-Billion Deep-Space Rocket

Is NASA's Space Launch System a flying piece of congressional pork or our best shot at getting humans to deep space?

By THIS IS A PREVIEW.or to access the full article.Already a subscriber or purchased this issue?

Deep inside a giant but little known NASA facility, crews have for years been staging elaborately faked space missions. This is not a conspiracy theory. It is the sad tale of NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, the sprawling New Orleans complex where the space agency had for decades built its biggest rockets.

After the space shuttle's last flight in 2011, Michoud's massive hangarlike facilities were rented out to Hollywood studios, housing some of the production for and other science-fiction movies.

THIS IS A PREVIEW.or to access the full article.Already a subscriber or purchased this issue? Buy Digital Issue$5.99 Digital Issue + Subscription$39.99 You May Also Like

Scientific American Mind Single Issue

Scientific American Single Issue

Your Inner Genius

The Hidden Mind