A little over two weeks after it tested the massive RS-25 rocket engine at the Stennis Space Center, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted another test yesterday as it pushed the engine beyond its requirements. NASA ran a hot fire test of the redesigned RS-25 engine at the Fred Haise test stand at the Stennis Space Center in Florida. The test was longer than the earlier run, and according to NASA, its duration was also longer than required for flight during a Space Launch System (SLS) launch.
NASA Succesfully Runs RS-25 Engine For 600 Seconds As Part Of Certification Testing
Today’s test ran for six hundred seconds, while a typical SLS launch fires the engines up for 500 seconds. The SLS is the space agency’s workhorse rocket for the Artemis mission, through which it aims to develop a sustained human presence on the Moon. It uses the RS-25 eninges on its core stage, and these were originally designed for the Space Shuttle and intended to be reused after flight.
However, since the SLS is a non-reusable rocket, NASA and the engine’s manufacturer Aerjoet Rocketdyne are looking at methods to attune the engine to the SLS by streamlining production and reducing weight and costs. Accoridng to NASA, the engines currently being tested at Stennis are “manufactured with new processes and components,” with the tests a series of certification runs that aim to evaluate the design to ensure there are no problems with either the engine or its components before Aerojet can start production.
Even though it has launched only one SLS mission so far, NASA has tested engines for the first four flights at Stennis. These tests are running concurrently with rocket production, since the space agency is also building the launch vehicles for these missions at different facilities. So far, the agency is on its way to join the SLS’ core stage with the engine section for the Artemis 2 rocket, assembling the core stage for the Artemis 3 rocket and building components of the core stages for the Artemis 3 and 4 rockets.
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The test ran successfully for 600 seconds and saw the RS-25 generate a whopping 418,000 pounds of thrust. Due to atmospheric pressure, which acts as a counter force to the engine’s exhaust, its performance is limited on Earth. However, according to NASA, the engine can generate an even higher 512,000 pounds after escaping the high pressure at the planet’s surface.
NASA’s Fred Haise test stand can support 350 second tests, and the propellant and oxidizer for the hot fire were delivered through additional tanks. The stand is roughly 200 feet tall, and NASA protects the surface below it by flowing water to dissipate the engine’s heat. Yesterday’s test saw clouds of steam billow from under the stand at hundreds of feet in the air, demonstrating the true power of the RS-25 engine.
You can take a look at the test down below.
The post NASA’s Rocket Engine Test Blows Steam Hundreds Of Feet In Air For Stunning Views! by Ramish Zafar appeared first on Wccftech.
