Shuttle Main Engine Test Is Beginning Of The End For
Shuttle
NASA is marking a
historic moment in the life of the nation's largest rocket engine
test complex. The Stennis Space Center conducted the final space
shuttle main engine test on its A-1 Test Stand Friday. Although
this ends the stand’s work on the Space Shuttle Program, it
will soon be used for the rocket that will carry America’s
next generation human spacecraft, Orion.
The A-1 Test Stand was the site of the first test on a shuttle
main engine in 1975. Stennis will continue testing shuttle main
engines on its A-2 Test Stand through the end of the Space Shuttle
Program in 2010.
The A-1 stand begins a new chapter in its operational history in
October. It will be temporarily decommissioned to convert it for
testing the J-2X engine, which will power the upper stage of NASA's
new crew launch vehicle, the Ares I. The J-2X will also power the
Earth departure stage of the Ares V new cargo launch vehicle. The
Ares I and V vehicles will provide the thrust, while the Orion crew
capsule will be future astronauts’ home in space.
"This is truly an important milestone for Stennis," said Don
Beckmeyer, space shuttle main engine project manager in the Test
Projects Office of Stennis’ Project Directorate. "As we
transition the A-1 Test Stand from testing shuttle main engines to
testing J-2X engines, we are entering into some exciting years
ahead where our work force and the center as a whole will be key in
the development of this new engine. Until the shuttle engines are
retired in 2010, we will have two critical test programs running
side by side."
Beckmeyer and other engineers have praised the
foresight of NASA's early management, whose vision still allows the
rugged structures to meet current and future rocket engine testing
needs.
"Reaching these milestones is really a testament to the
designers and builders of the test stands back in the 1960s,"
Beckmeyer said. "They were built to last, and their longevity and
flexibility are key assets to the agency. We are about to embark on
the third generation of rocket engines to be tested on A-1, and we
fully expect this test stand to be instrumental in developing and
certifying these engines for years to come."
A-1 and its sister stand A-2 were built in the 1960s to test the
stages of the Apollo Program's rocket engines, then modified in the
1970s to test-fire and prove flight-worthy all main engines for
NASA's space shuttle fleet.
According to Beckmeyer and Gary Benton, Stennis’ J-2X
engine project manager, A-1 is set to be reactivated in the spring
of 2007.
The J-2X is a modification of the Apollo Program's J-2 engine,
which helped send the first Americans to the moon. The original
J-2s were also tested at Stennis.
As the A-1 Test Stand moved into the shuttle era, it handled
more than 1,000 shuttle main engine tests, which have been crucial
to the flight record of the orbiter’s powerful engines. In
the 116 launches logged by the shuttle fleet, no main engine has
ever experienced a major problem.