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Nasa successfully tests Space Launch System rocket engine (Wired UK)
Nasa test-fires the RS-25 rocket engine for its Space Launch System
Nasa
Nasa has test fired the RS-25 rocket that will power its new Space Launch System. Nasa's video footage shows rocket engine number 2059 blazing into life for eight and half minutes at the A-1 Test Stand at the Stennis Space centre in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
The Space Launch System (SLS) is set to be the successor to the retired space shuttle program, giving the US space agency the ability to once again take complete control of its own launches and missions, with neither foreign nor private sector assistance.
The SLS is a cornerstone of Nasa's future planned missions to Mars, which hope to see humans on the red planet's surface by the 2030s.
NASA engineers conduct a successfully test firing of RS-25 rocket engine No. 2059 on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis. The hot fire marks the first test of an RS-25 flight engine for NASA’s new Space Launch System vehicle.
NASA/SSC
Nasa hopes to launch the SLS for the first time in 2018 and said that it will have "more payload mass, volume capability and energy to speed missions through space than any current launch vehicle, SLS is designed to be flexible and evolvable and will open new possibilities for payloads, including robotic scientific missions to places like Mars, Saturn and Jupiter."
Stennis space centre director Rick Gilbrech described the test firing as "a great moment for Nasa and Stennis".
"We have exciting days ahead with a return to deep space and a journey to Mars, and this test is a very big step in that direction," Gilbrech added.
The SLS's engines are actually leftover flight engines from the space shuttle program, which Nasa says are "among the most proven in the world, having powered 135 space shuttle missions from 1981 to 2011." They'll be firing at 109 percent thrust to launch the SLS.
Aerojet Rocketdyne, the contractor carrying out much of the RS-25 engine work, will continue to work with Nasa at Stennis to carry out further engine tests. The B-2 Test Stand is already being readied to test the SLS core stage that will be used on the rocket's first Exploration Mission-1 flight, which will involve firing four RS-25 rockets simultaneously.
Nasa test-fires the RS-25 rocket engine for its Space Launch System
Nasa
Nasa has test fired the RS-25 rocket that will power its new Space Launch System. Nasa's video footage shows rocket engine number 2059 blazing into life for eight and half minutes at the A-1 Test Stand at the Stennis Space centre in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
The Space Launch System (SLS) is set to be the successor to the retired space shuttle program, giving the US space agency the ability to once again take complete control of its own launches and missions, with neither foreign nor private sector assistance.
The SLS is a cornerstone of Nasa's future planned missions to Mars, which hope to see humans on the red planet's surface by the 2030s.
NASA engineers conduct a successfully test firing of RS-25 rocket engine No. 2059 on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis. The hot fire marks the first test of an RS-25 flight engine for NASA’s new Space Launch System vehicle.
NASA/SSC
Nasa hopes to launch the SLS for the first time in 2018 and said that it will have "more payload mass, volume capability and energy to speed missions through space than any current launch vehicle, SLS is designed to be flexible and evolvable and will open new possibilities for payloads, including robotic scientific missions to places like Mars, Saturn and Jupiter."
Stennis space centre director Rick Gilbrech described the test firing as "a great moment for Nasa and Stennis".
"We have exciting days ahead with a return to deep space and a journey to Mars, and this test is a very big step in that direction," Gilbrech added.
The SLS's engines are actually leftover flight engines from the space shuttle program, which Nasa says are "among the most proven in the world, having powered 135 space shuttle missions from 1981 to 2011." They'll be firing at 109 percent thrust to launch the SLS.
Aerojet Rocketdyne, the contractor carrying out much of the RS-25 engine work, will continue to work with Nasa at Stennis to carry out further engine tests. The B-2 Test Stand is already being readied to test the SLS core stage that will be used on the rocket's first Exploration Mission-1 flight, which will involve firing four RS-25 rockets simultaneously.
