Bridenstine sees RS-25 test

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – Operators conducted a successful test of RS-25 developmental engine No. 0525 – complete with a new flight controller unit – on the A-1 Test Stand as new NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and other agency officials watched. The hot fire was the first RS-25 test at Stennis since February, when operators powered the engine to its highest operating level ever. It also was the first test of developmental engine No. 0525 since August 2015. It marked the first in a series of nine scheduled tests on engine No. 0525 through the rest of the year and into 2019. Each will feature an RS-25 flight controller for use on an actual SLS mission, as well as testing engine components made with innovative manufacturing designed to reduce the cost of future engines. Four RS-25 engines will power the Space Launch System designed to take astronauts on deep-space missions. (Source: NASA, 08/14/18) The test was to have lasted 500 seconds, but aborted at 319 due to a facility issue. All the test objectives, however, were met. (Source: NASA Spaceflight, 08/14/18)