Former Moon Engine burns bright once more...
The RS-18 engine was last used on Apollo 17 in 1972 to
lift the ascent module off the lunar surface and begin the
journey home. Thirty six years later, it is being used
during testing once again as part of NASA's Constellation
Program, as shown in the photo above. While the engine will
not be used for Constellation, it has been modified to burn
liquid oxygen and liquid methane in order to perform
analysis on the engine test stand. The RS-18 was modified
through NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program,
which is experimenting with various rocket engine and
propulsion technologies that can be used in the future.
NASA - Aug 1, 2008
