NASA conducted its second RS-25 engine hot fire test of the new year yesterday at Stennis Space Center.
The test was the third hot fire in the latest series that began in mid-December.
NASA is testing RS-25 engines to help power the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on future deep-space missions. Four RS-25 engines will generate a combined 2 million pounds of thrust to power SLS’s 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 the current test series to enhance production of new RS-25 engines and components for use on subsequent SLS missions.
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.
