NASA reveals what happened at rocket engine test that ended early at Stennis Space Center
UPDATE:
NASA officials said Monday it was a hydraulic sensor on engine 2 that caused the early shutdown of Saturday’s test of four R-25 engines designed to power astronauts back to the moon.
The test at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County called for the engines to fire for up to 8 minutes, the time it will take to launch a rocket into space. The engines shut down a minute into the test.
The Space Launch System has four auxiliary power units, each with sensors to give readings, explained NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. Auxiliary Power Unit 2 had a reading for the amount of hydraulic fluid in the reservoir “that maybe was set a little too conservatively,” he said. It triggered engine shutdown.
If it had been an actual launch, that parameter wouldn’t have been set so conservatively, he said, and redundant systems would let the launch continue.
NASA engineers are still in the beginning stages of reviewing the test data to determine if they will now send the engines to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for eventual launch, or if they will do a second test.
“This is the biggest test NASA’s run in the last 50 years,” said John Honeycutt, SLS program manager, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The sound and power of the rockets could be heard and felt as far away as Biloxi.
If a second test is indicated, “Stennis is the right place and the best place to do the test,” he said.
Whatever decision NASA makes, “I will tell you we’re still shooting for a launch this year,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.
The schedule calls for an uncrewed mission around the moon and back in 2021 and to land “the next man and the first woman” on the moon in 2024.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A group of deer wasn’t scared away by the shorter-than-expected test firing of four RS-25 rocket engines Saturday at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County.
The deer stayed where they were, grazing in a field between the B-2 test stand where the rockets fired, and the cameras lined up to capture the sight.
Instead of a test that NASA said could run for as long as 8 minutes, the test lasted for about 1 minute.
Those who witnessed the firing cheered when they saw the first glow of the engines fire and heard the rumble of power. When the engines turned off, they watched as a rainbow formed above the billows of vapor.
A NASA blog posted after the test said that all four engines ignited successfully, but the test was stopped early after about a minute.
“At this point, the test was fully automated,” the report said. “During the firing, the onboard software acted appropriately and initiated a safe shutdown of the engines. During the test, the propellant tanks were pressurized, and this data will be valuable as the team plans the path forward.
The blog said engineers will continue to analyze data and inspect the core stage and its four RS-25 engines to determine the next steps.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said at a press conference late Saturday that it’s too soon to say if the a launch of Artemis 1 to the moon is still possible this year, according to Space.com.
Each of the RS-25 engines that will help power the SLS generates 500,000 pounds of thrust at altitude. All four RS-25 engines firing together generate 1.6 million pounds of thrust at sea level and 2 million pounds at altitude. Two solid rocket boosters contribute additional thrust to propel the Orion capsules on the 8.5-minute flight into space, said Mary Engola, manager of space communications for Aerojet Rocketdyne.
The four rockets are called “heritage shuttle engines,” and are among 16 left from the shuttle program.
“We upgrade the engines here at Stennis for the SLS program,” she said.
SLS is the Space Launch System that will take astronaut Matthew Dominick of Colorado and other U.S. astronauts back into space. He was one of four astronauts at Stennis on Saturday to see the test and chat with the media and the invited guests.
He doesn’t have a schedule of when it may be his turn to go into space. Following today’s test, the rockets are scheduled to be sent to Kennedy Space Center to be part of the first uncrewed launch later this year into deep space, around the moon and back.
Orion 2 is scheduled to be a crewed mission around the moon and the third launch in the Orion program, scheduled for 2024, would land the next man and the first woman on the moon.
The astronauts are the ones who get the attention, Dominick said, but there are thousands of people working on the Artemis Program to the moon.
“All these teams are coming together to build this thing,” he said.
Also witnessing the test firing Saturday were Steve Nguyen of New Orleans and Sam Murray of nearby Picayune, both internet technology specialists for All Points, a subcontractor for Boeing.
“It’s been years in the making,” Nguyen said. “It’s something I can tell my kids and my Mom,”
The test firing was delayed in part by the coronavirus and the weather in 2020. During the pandemic, they worked remotely.
“With the hurricanes, they just stopped everything,” Murray said.
Until last year, every U.S. rocket that carried an American astronaut into space was tested at Stennis Space Center.
In 2020, NASA partnered with SpaceX to transport American astronauts to the International Space Station.
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 5:27 PM.
