You can’t see it, but you may hear it

A drone image shows the core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System rocket installed on the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center. Listen up on Saturday! (SSC Photo)

Stennis Space Center is giving area residents a heads up: expect “elevated decibel levels” Saturday, Jan. 16, during the final hot fire test on NASA’s new Space Launch System core stage. They don’t expect the levels will be high enough to do any damage. OK.

NASA also has fingers crossed that the test will actually take place as scheduled, but obviously there are a lot of moving parts here. The firing will light the fuse on four rocket engines that can produce a combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust. The noise is expected to be “about 10 to 20 decibels higher than during a normal single engine test at the site.”

The sound you may hear will depend on your location relative to the test site and the weather conditions. I’m old enough to remember windows rattling during Saturn V tests and the rumblings of shuttle engine tests. You?

NASA is targeting a two-hour test window Saturday that opens at 4 p.m. Live coverage will begin at 4:20 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website, followed by a briefing about two hours after the test. 

And no, the public won’t be allowed to view the test on site because of COVID-19 protocols. Which reminds me to say, “Wear a mask.”