NASA conducted its first RS-25 engine hot fire test of the new year Jan. 19 on the Fred Haise Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The test was the second hot fire in the latest series that began in mid-December. Each test in the series is providing valuable operational data to NASA’s lead contractor, Aerojet Rocketdyne, on a variety of new engine components manufactured with state-of-the-art fabrication techniques as the company begins production of new RS-25 engines. These engines will help power the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on future deep-space missions. During launch, four RS-25 engines will power the SLS, generating a combined 2 million pounds of thrust during ascent. The RS-25 engines for the first four SLS flights are upgraded space shuttle main engines and have completed certification testing. NASA will use the data from this test to enhance production of new RS-25 engines and components for use on subsequent SLS missions. The testing is part of NASA’s and Aerojet Rocketdyne’s effort to use advanced manufacturing methods to significantly reduce the cost and time needed to build new engines.

Credits: NASA/SSC

For the Jan. 19 test, engineers fired the RS-25 developmental engine at power levels ranging from 80 percent to 111 percent for a full duration of about eight-and-a-half minutes (500 seconds), the same amount of time the engines must fire to help propel SLS to orbit. New hardware tested on the engine includes valves, insulation, rigid and flex ducts, a high pressure fuel turbopump, a high pressure oxidizer turbopump, instrumentation, and a POGO accumulatormanufactured using selective laser melting. SLS will be the world’s most powerful rocket and the only one capable of sending the agency’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission. Initial SLS missions will send Orion to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program, including the Artemis I uncrewed test flight this year that will pave the way for future flights with astronauts to explore the lunar surface and prepare for missions to Mars. Artemis missions also will land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface. SLS and Orion, along with the commercial human landing system and the Gateway outpost in orbit around the Moon, are NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration. RS-25 tests at Stennis are conducted by a combined team of NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Syncom Space Services operators. Syncom Space Services is the prime contractor for Stennis facilities and operations.

PHOTO CREDIT – NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration