Core components of the J-2X engine being designed
for NASA's Constellation Program recently were installed on
the A-1 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay
St. Louis, Miss. Tests of the components, known as Powerpack
1A, will be conducted from November 2007 through February
2008. The Powerpack 1A test article consists of a gas
generator and engine turbopumps originally developed for the
Apollo Program that put Americans on the moon in the late
1960s and early 1970s. Engineers are testing these heritage
components to obtain data that will help them modify the
turbomachinery to meet the higher performance requirements
of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles.
The upcoming tests will simulate inlet and outlet
conditions that would be present on the turbomachinery
during a full-up engine hot-fire test.
The J-2X engine will power the upper stages of the Ares I
and Ares V launch vehicles. Ares I is an in-line, two-stage
rocket that will transport the Orion crew exploration
vehicle to low Earth orbit. Ares V will enable NASA to
launch a variety of science and exploration payloads, as
well as key components needed to go to the moon and later to
Mars.
The J-2X is an evolved version
of two historic predecessors: the powerful J-2 engine that
propelled the Apollo-era Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets, and
the J-2S, a simplified version of the J-2 that was developed
and tested in the early 1970s. The J-2X engine will
incorporate significant upgrades to meet higher performance
and reliability requirements for the Ares vehicles.
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 on Friday, Sept. 29. 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.
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.
From Nasa - September 28,2007
