Monica Jackson
NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne have completed a second ground-based assessment of an engine controller for the Space Launch System exploration rocket.
Aerojet Rocketdyne said Monday the RS-25 engine underwent eight minutes of test firing as part of an effort to verify its flight readiness and the performance of its modified components.
The engine features modernized hardware that include a vibration dampener, a main combustion chamber and new controllers, which will be installed on 16 engines, repurposed from the remaining space shuttle main engines, for the SLS rocket.
Eileen Drake, president and CEO of Aerojet Roketdyne, said ongoing acceptance tests aim to evaluate computers designed to support SLS missions and validate new engine manufacturing techniques.
NASA tapped the company to reproduce six RS-25 engines for integration onto the fifth and succeeding SLS launch efforts.
