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| RS-25 controller test. NASA/SSC photo |
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Just two weeks after the third test of a new RS-25 engine flight controller, NASA recorded its fourth full-duration controller test Aug. 9. Engineers conducted a 500-second test of the “brain” of RS-25 engine on the A-1 Test Stand. The test involved installing the controller on an RS-25 development engine and firing it in the same manner, and for the same length of time, as needed during an actual SLS launch. It marked another milestone toward launch of the first integrated flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew vehicle. Exploration Mission-1 will be an uncrewed mission into lunar orbit, designed to provide a final check-out test of rocket and Orion capabilities before astronauts are returned to deep space. The SLS rocket will be powered at launch by four RS-25 engines, providing a combined 2 million pounds of thrust, and with a pair of solid rocket boosters, providing more than 8 million pounds of total thrust. (Source: NASA/SSC, 08/09/17)
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