A 500-second test-firing of NASA's first new rocket engine for human space exploration since the 1970s was an apparent success today.Mounted in a test stand at Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., the J2-X engine ignited a little after 4 p.m. today and ran without apparent problem for about eight minutes and 20 seconds.
A continuous whoosh of bright white exhaust -- the byproduct of igniting about 130,000 pounds of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen -- gushed out of the test stand.
A team of test engineers, many wearing loud-and-proud Hawaiian shirts, were glued to computer consoles in a nearby control center.
A post-test news briefing is scheduled for 5 p.m. EST. Click the NASA TV box on the right to launch our NASA TV viewer and live coverage.
A derivative of the engine that powered the Saturn V moon rocket, the J2-X was intended to power the second stages of the Ares I and Ares V rockets being developed for Project Constellation, a return-to-the-moon program cancelled by the Obama Administration.
NASA now plans to use the engine as the heart of the propulsion system for the second stage of the Space Launch System, a heavy-lift launch vehicle being developed for human expeditions beyond Earth orbit.
1 comment:
Doesn't it appear that all of NASA's posts are so glamorous and seeming well-intentioned? Think again. They have an agenda to militarize space with their warmongering technology, at the expense of our atmospheric envelope and all life that depends upon our 'ocean of air'.
At NASA's environmental cleanup page,
http://www.ssc.nasa.gov/environmental/cleanup/clean.html, it says, "We take full responsibility for any problems caused by past practices and ensuring the protection of the environment and the health of the surrounding community."
That's all well and good, now what about the ongoing SOLID ROCKET FUEL program? Is this present technology ensuring the protection of the environment?
Here is the censored TRUTH of how NASA really salutes its veterans:
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-08/space-shuttles-and-rocket-launches-caused-1-billion-toxic-pollution
Float to space instead of rocketing there, and accomplish everything at 25 miles altitude that was being done, 14X further, at 250 miles out.
Also, documentation of how Nazi turned into NASA, and still continues to wage war upon our environment:
http://darinselby.1hwy.com/floattospace.html
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