Posted on 07/18/2015 5:06:06 PM PDT by BBell
In auto racing parlance, NASA engineers put the "pedal to the metal" during a July 17 test of its Space Launch System (SLS) RS-25 rocket engine at Stennis Space Center.
During a 535-second test, operators ran the RS-25 through a series of power levels, including a period of firing at 109 percent of the engine's rated power. Data collected on performance of the engine at the various power levels will aid in adapting the former space shuttle engines to the new SLS vehicle mission requirements, including development of an all-new engine controller and software. Four RS-25 engines will use the added performance to help power the SLS core stage during launch.
The SLS is being developed to carry humans deeper into space than ever before, to such destinations as an asteroid and Mars. When fully developed, the heavy-lift version of the spacecraft will be the largest, most powerful rocket ever built.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
What about all that CO2?
I used to live close enough to Stennis to feel and here the space shuttle booster rocket tests. A coworker remembered the windows rattling when, as a kid they tested the Saturn 5 boosters there.
Doh!! HEAR!
Stennis was an ardent supporter of racial segregation, like most Mississippian Democrats at the time. In the 1950s and 1960s he vigorously opposed the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and he signed the Southern Manifesto of 1956, supporting filibuster tactics to block or delay passage in all cases.
Oh yeah...because he was a DEMOCRAT.
NASAs mission, goals, planning, work force, quality, materials etc have all been shrunk or diverted to the point that working with 45 year old stuff is normal, and lucky to get that.
As demands for entitlements increase, funding for NASA (discretionary funding) decreases, even if revenue climbs. All increases go to increased entitlement spending either directly or indirectly (bonuses).
Many here on FR, much of the public, and elected officials see anything space as a waste of funds which (despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary) bring no benefits.
NASA has no new engines in development. There was a recent televised hearing on the Russian RD-180 engine and finding a replacement - there is none and no funds to begin the decade long process. We cannot even afford to reverse engineer the RD-180! (The RD-180 does most of the satellite heavy lifting, has no equal, and is relatively inexpensive.)
Meanwhile, continued US purchases of the engine keep Russian engine designers employed and developing new engines. Our topnotch designers mostly live in retirement homes ... Who wants to be in a profession with no future?
...test of its Space Launch System (SLS) RS-25 rocket engine... through a series of power levels, including a period of firing at 109 percent of the engine's rated power.That's for those times when you just have to get to the Moon nine percent faster. An "extra, extra" ping to the APoD list members.
Thank you!
Oh. Nevermind.
Not really I have no idea why we retired the shuttle and have no manned capabilty we should have had one being tested and go online as the shuttle was phased out and im sure 70s tech is fine got us to the moon
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