NASA Successfully Tests Rocket Engine for Manned Mars Mission

NASA and contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne have successfully tested the RS-25 rocket engine. The engine will serve as the basis for the Space Launch System, which will be used to conduct manned Mars missions from 2030.

A 500-second hot fire was conducted at the Stennis Space Center on Thursday. It was the first test of the RS-25 engine, four of which will be combined on the Space Launch System launch vehicle, which NASA plans to use for its future manned space exploration missions.

The engines were originally developed in the 1970s and are left over after NASA ended the Space Shuttle program. Between 1981 and 2011, the space agency conducted 135 shuttle missions using the RS-25 engines, three of which were used on the shuttle.

The first unmanned test rocket is to be launched by November 2018 at the latest and is 97.5 meters high. Ultimately, NASA wants to build a 122 meter high rocket, with a payload of 130,000 kg.