|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||
|
J-2X Engine Ready
For Second Test Series By Jim Douglas |
||||
 |
April 30, 2012 - The next-generation engine that will help carry humans deeper into space than ever is back, bigger and better. The J-2X engine is currently on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for an extensive round of tests to build on last year's successful test firings.
The engine will provide upper-stage power for NASA's
evolved Space Launch System (SLS), a new heavy-lift
rocket capable of missions to deep space. "We're making steady and tangible progress on our new heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronauts on journeys to destinations farther in our solar system," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who recently visited Stennis and saw the J-2X in its test stand. |
|||
|
"As we
continue test firings of the J-2X engine and a myriad of
other work to open the next great chapter of exploration,
we're demonstrating our commitment right now to America's
continued leadership in space."
The space agency conducted an initial round of sea-level tests on the first developmental engine last year. This second test series will simulate high-altitude conditions where the atmospheric pressure is low. The SLS will use J-2X engines on the second stage of flight after the first stage is jettisoned. "The first round of testing helped us get to
know the engine, how it operates and its basic performance
characteristics," said Tom Byrd, J-2X engine lead in the SLS
Liquid Engines Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala. "Now, we're looking forward to testing J-2X in
the SLS flight configuration, collecting nozzle data and
continuing to learn about the performance of the engine itself."
NASA has worked closely with the J-2X prime
contractor, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif.,
to prepare the J-2X engine, dubbed E10001for its second round of
tests. The J-2X engine nozzle is different from the
nozzle used on the space shuttle main engine for the last 30
years of space missions. While the space shuttle main engine
nozzle was hydrogen cooled to save weight, the J-2X
hydrogen-cooled nozzle is shorter and attached to a lightweight,
passively cooled nozzle extension. |
||||
