AJ26 test scheduled

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and executives from Orbital Science Corp. and Aerojet will be on hand Feb. 7 for a flight acceptance test of an Aerojet AJ26 rocket engine at Stennis Space Center. Members of the media have been invited to see the 4 p.m. test. The engine will be used in Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Taurus II space launch vehicle. Once flight acceptance testing on the engine is complete, it will be delivered to Orbital at the Wallops Flight Facility launch site in Virginia for integration with the rocket's first stage core power. NASA has partnered with Orbital to provide eight cargo missions to the International Space Station, with the first scheduled for early 2012. (Source: NASA, 02/04/11)