Tuesday, May 1, 2012

J-2X ENGINE READY FOR SECOND TEST SERIES


FROM:  NASA
WASHINGTON -- The next-generation engine that will help carry humans 
deeper into space than ever is back, bigger and better. The J-2X 
engine is currently on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space 
Center in Mississippi for an extensive round of tests to build on 
last year's successful test firings. The engine will provide 
upper-stage power for NASA's evolved Space Launch System (SLS), a new 
heavy-lift rocket capable of missions to deep space. 

"We're making steady and tangible progress on our new heavy-lift 
rocket that will launch astronauts on journeys to destinations 
farther in our solar system," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, 
who recently visited Stennis and saw the J-2X in its test stand. "As 
we continue test firings of the J-2X engine and a myriad of other 
work to open the next great chapter of exploration, we're 
demonstrating our commitment right now to America's continued 
leadership in space." 

The space agency conducted an initial round of sea-level tests on the 
first developmental engine last year. This second test series will 
simulate high-altitude conditions where the atmospheric pressure is 
low. The SLS will use J-2X engines on the second stage of flight 
after the first stage is jettisoned. 

"The first round of testing helped us get to know the engine, how it 
operates and its basic performance characteristics," said Tom Byrd, 
J-2X engine lead in the SLS Liquid Engines Office at NASA's Marshall 
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "Now, we're looking forward 
to testing J-2X in the SLS flight configuration, collecting nozzle 
data and continuing to learn about the performance of the engine 
itself." 

NASA has worked closely with the J-2X prime contractor, Pratt and 
Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., to prepare the J-2X 
engine, dubbed E10001for its second round of tests. 

The J-2X engine nozzle is different from the nozzle used on the space 
shuttle main engine for the last 30 years of space missions. While 
the space shuttle main engine nozzle was hydrogen cooled to save 
weight, the J-2X hydrogen-cooled nozzle is shorter and attached to a 
lightweight, passively cooled nozzle extension. 

A total of 16 tests are scheduled, tentatively beginning this 
Wednesday. They are expected to conclude by the end of this year. 

In its first round of testing, the J-2X engine reached 100 percent 
power in just four tests and achieved a full flight-duration firing 
of 500 seconds in its eighth test, faster than any other U.S. engine. 
The engine was fired a total of 10 times for a cumulative 1,040 
seconds of testing various aspects of performance. 

The J-2X is a redesign of the heritage J-2 engine that helped send 
astronauts to the moon during the Apollo Program in the 1960s and 
1970s. In addition to testing the engine, NASA is conducting tests on 
the J-2X powerpack, which includes the gas generator, oxygen and fuel 
turbopumps, and related ducts and valves. Tests of the powerpack 
components are being conducted on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis. 

The J-2X is being developed for NASA by Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne. 
It is the first new liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine 
developed in 40 years that will be rated to carry humans into space. 

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