Testing To Begin Soon On Ares J-2X Engines
NASA's Stennis Space Center broke
ground Thursday for a new rocket engine test stand that will
provide altitude testing for the J-2X engine. The engine will power
the upper stages of NASA's Ares I and Ares V rockets.
NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale was joined by Mississippi
Gov. Haley Barbour, US Sen. Thad Cochran, US Sen. Trent Lott and US
Rep. Gene Taylor for the landmark occasion.
Also participating were NASA Associate Administrator for
Exploration Systems Scott Horowitz and Stennis Center Director
Richard Gilbrech, recently named to succeed Horowitz, who plans to
leave NASA in October. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne President Jim
Maser took part as well.
"Groundbreakings are about new beginnings," said Dale. "The
first stand was erected at Stennis to test the Saturn V rocket of
the Apollo program. Testing of the space shuttle engines began here
in the mid 1970s. And today, we're breaking ground for a new test
stand, for the new spacecraft of a new era of exploration."
The Ares I and Ares V rockets are being developed as part of
NASA's Constellation Program. Constellation spacecraft will be used
to send astronauts to the International Space Station, return
humans to the moon, and eventually journey to Mars.
"This is our generation's turn, our time to go to the moon,"
said Gilbrech. "One of the key steps is building the A-3 test
stand. The J-2X engine has a unique set of test requirements. The
best way to meet them is with the A-3."
The A-3 stand is the first large test stand to be built at
Stennis since it opened in the 1960s. The new test stand will be a
300-foot-tall, open steel frame structure located south of the
existing A-1 test stand. Its 19-acre site in Stennis' A Complex
will include a test control center, propellant barge docks and
access roadways.
The test stand will allow engineers to simulate conditions at
different altitudes by generating steam to reduce pressure in the
test cell. Testing on the A-3 stand is scheduled to begin in late
2010.
In November 2006, Stennis' existing A-1 stand was handed over to
the Constellation Program for testing the J-2X engine. Tests on
J-2X components are set to begin later in 2007.
"The engines will be assembled here at Stennis, then subjected
to rigorous, expert testing," Dale said. "After that, those engines
and the rockets they will power will travel to Cape Canaveral. Then
the finished spacecraft will lift off, headed for a new destination
and a new era of exploration."