Scott Nicholas
Aerojet Rocketdyne has tested a third RS-25 engine flight controller the company developed to support the launch of a future NASA heavy-lift rocket.
The RS-25 flight controller is designed to monitor the health of a rocket engine using real-time adjustments to combustion pressures, turbopump speeds and other configurations such as engine thrust and propellant mixture ratios, Aerojet Rocketdyne said Tuesday.
The tests occurred at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and involved engine thrust and mixture ratio precision activities.
Eileen Drake, president and CEO of Aerojet Rocketdyne, said the evaluation of RS-25 under various conditions helps the company ensure that the technology will offer a safe engine for the country’s deep space exploration missions.
NASA will use the flight controller on the inaugural mission of SLS, designed to propel the Orion spacecraft around the moon and help the vehicle travel back to Earth.
