RS-25 has 500-second test

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- An RS-25 that will used to power NASA's Space Launch System performed a 500-second flight certification test today on the A-1 test stand at Stennis Space Center. NASA conducted a series of tests on an RS-25 development engine last year, but this Aerojet Rocketdyne engine, No. 2059, will fly. It is one of four, all to be tested at Stennis Space Center, that will power the SLS in Exploration Mission 2, a crewed mission that will carry astronauts into lunar orbit. That will be the first mission beyond low-Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The RS-25 that was tested today is a modified versions of the engines used aboard the Space Shuttle. Together the four engines will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust. (Source: NASA/SSC, 03/10/16)