NASA'S New Upper Stage Rocket Engine Ready For Testing

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- NASA's new J-2X rocket engine, which could
power the upper stage of the nation's future heavy-lift launch
vehicle, is ready for its first round of testing. The fully assembled
engine was installed Saturday in the A-2 Test Stand at the agency's
Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

Beginning in mid-June, the engine will undergo a series of 10 test
firings that will last several months.

"An upper stage engine is essential to making space exploration
outside low-Earth orbit a reality," said Mike Kynard, manager of the
J-2X upper stage engine project at NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Ala. "The J-2X goes beyond the limits of its
historic predecessor and achieves higher thrust, performance, and
reliability than the J2. We are thrilled to have the engine in the
test stand to validate our assumptions about engine performance and reliability."

The test stand, which supported the space shuttle main engine project,
has been modified to accommodate the J-2X engine's different shape.
In addition to the structural, electrical and plumbing modifications,
a new engine start system was installed and control systems were
upgraded on the stand. The liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen transfer
lines that dated back to the 1960s were replaced.

Fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, the J-2X engine will
generate 294,000 pounds of thrust in its primary operating mode to
propel a spacecraft into low-Earth orbit.

By changing the mixture ratio of liquid oxygen to liquid hydrogen, the
J-2X can operate in a secondary mode of 242,000 pounds of thrust
required to power a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit to the moon, an
asteroid or other celestial destination. The J-2X can start and
restart in space to support a variety of mission requirements.

"We are excited to have a new engine in the A-2 Test Stand," said Gary
Benton, manager of the J-2X engine testing project at Stennis.
"Installation of the J-2X engine marks the beginning of the third
major rocket engine test project on this historic stand."

The A-2 Test Stand originally was used to test Saturn V rocket stages
for NASA's Apollo Program. In the mid-1970s, the stand was modified
from Apollo Program parameters to allow testing of space shuttle main engines.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., designed and built
the J-2X for NASA.

To learn more about the J-2X engine, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/j2x/

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