NASA plans to continue test firing its newest Space Launch System rocket engines.
The test-firing will be done at the Stennis Space Station in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on January 28. This is the second test of the RS-25 engine which will be used in future Artemis missions. Portions of the rocket engine were built at NASA’s facility in New Orleans.
NASA says the test will provide valuable data of the engine’s capabilities.
“We’re going to evaluate these newly designed parts that were made using advanced manufacturing techniques,” said Johnny Heflin, SLS liquid engines manager at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, where the SLS Program is based. “This test series will prove that the RS-25 production restart engines can be built with the same high performance but with more affordability. This is a big milestone that will greatly contribute to the future sustainability of SLS.”
The engine will be fired seven times for a total of 3,650 seconds.
The test schedule calls for six full-duration tests of about eight and a half minutes and one hot fire of just under 11 minutes.
