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NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, right,
views J-2X at the A-2 stand. NASA photo |
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- The J-2X engine that will power the second stage of NASA's Space Launch System will undergo a series of tests beginning Wednesday, the first of 16 scheduled for this year. The Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine, called E10001, is at the A-2 Test Stand for tests that will build on the 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. In its first round of testing, the J-2X engine reached 100 percent power in just four tests and achieved a full flight-duration firing of 500 seconds in its eighth test, faster than any other U.S. engine. The engine was fired a total of 10 times for a cumulative 1,040 seconds of testing various aspects of performance. (Source: NASA, 04/24/12)
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