Recently rocket\u00c2\u00a0engine No. 2059 was fired and tested by NASA for 500 seconds successfully. Why is the testing of a\u00c2\u00a0deep space RS-25 rocket engine being treated as a major milestone by these celebrating researchers? That is because the next time this rocket is operated for this duration it will be\u00c2\u00a0carrying humans on their first deep-space mission in more than 45 years.<\/p>\n
Yes, the mission to make humans land on Mars is not just science fiction any more. It is a mission with a deadline\u00c2\u00a0that will actually make it in your lifetime with just a couple more years of preparation to go. These engines have been used by the\u00c2\u00a0Space Launch System (SLS) missions and have powered more than\u00c2\u00a0135 space shuttle missions from 1981 to 2011.<\/p>\n
Steve Wofford, engines manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama said that not\u00c2\u00a0only does this test mark an important step towards proving our existing design for SLS’s first flight,\u00c2\u00a0but it’s also a great feeling that this engine that has carried so many astronauts into space before is being prepared to take astronauts to space once again on SLS’s first crewed flight.<\/p>\n