NASA fires up its new RS

It's always hot at @NASAStennis! 🔥

Yesterday, Oct. 17, @NASA conducted the first hot fire of a new RS-25 test series. This initiated the final round of certification testing for the production of updated engines for future @NASA_SLS flights.

MORE >> https://t.co/hbLyK91HXR pic.twitter.com/LSKuTp2s5z

— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) October 18, 2023

The test was part of a 12-test series that will run until 2024, involving different RS-25 engines. The tests will gather data on the performance of several new key engine components, such as a nozzle, hydraulic actuators, flex ducts, and turbopumps, NASA officials said in an October 3 update.

The RS-25 engines are one of the main components of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will carry astronauts to the moon under the Artemis program. Each SLS rocket will have four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters, producing more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

#ICYMI, teams at #NASAMichoud have been busy!

All four RS-25 engines have been fully secured onto the @NASA_SLS core stage for the #Artemis II flight, the first crewed mission to the Moon under @NASAArtemis.

Learn more about this powerful core stage >> https://t.co/G6iFzA7MdU pic.twitter.com/Mb5TtvwAMf

— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) October 17, 2023

Space Launch System and Artemis program

The first SLS rocket will use repurposed RS-25 engines from the space shuttle era, while the subsequent rockets will use new RS-25 engines that are being certified through hot fire tests. The new engines will start flying on the Artemis 5 mission, which is expected to launch no earlier than 2029.

The Artemis program aims to land humans on the moon by 2026 and establish a sustainable presence there by 2028. The first crewed mission, Artemis 2, will fly around the moon in 2024, while the second mission, Artemis 3, will attempt to land near the lunar south pole in 2026 using SpaceX’s Starship landing system. The third crewed mission, Artemis 4, will try another landing in 2028.

NASA and its industry partners are also testing other aspects of the SLS rocket, such as the solid rocket boosters, which provide additional thrust during liftoff. In September, engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, completed a subscale booster motor test to evaluate an alternate booster design for missions after Artemis 8.

The lead SLS engine contractor is Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, while Boeing is building the SLS core stage.