Jane Edwards
NASA has concluded a series of seven developmental tests on an Aerojet Rocketdyne-made engine for the Space Launch System at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi ahead of the rocket’s mission to Mars and other deep space destinations.
The 535-second hot-fire test on the RS-25 engine sought to gather information on inlet pressure conditions, engine controller component and temperatures, Steve Wofford, engines manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, said Friday.
“We also want to mitigate any risks on the ground before flight,†he added.
The space agency will also use the data to create a new engine control unit intended for communication functions and engine status monitoring.
Aerojet Rocketdyne built the RS-25 engine work with two five-segment rocket boosters to propel and launch the SLS into space.
NASA engineers will start tests on RS-25 flight engines and the rocket’s core stage this fall.
