This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) tested the RS-25 rocket engine at its facilities in Mississippi earlier today. The test was part of certification tests of an engine upgrade for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the Artemis program. NASA has conducted several of these tests as part of a new campaign that started in December 2022. The tests are for the RS 25 engines that use new components and manufacturing processes, and they aim to certify the engines for production. They come as the agency is already building the rockets for the next Artemis missions in its different facilities, and today was the first time that NASA tested the engines' maneuverability - also known as gimballing.

NASA Successfully Tests RS-25 Engine For 12 Minutes As Part Of Run Longer Than Artemis Flight

NASA's previous tests have seen the space agency scale the engine's power up from the levels it will reach during the SLS' flight to exceed that. The latest RS-25 test, which took place in late March, saw the space agency push its engine to 113% of its power level, higher than the 111% during the mission.

However, all tests conducted before today did not test the engine's gimballing systems. These are necessary to maneuver the rocket during its flight and place it on the correct flight path by moving the engine while it's attached to the rocket. To date, the test stands have successfully withstood all nominal tests.

During the test, the RS-25 generated a peak thrust of 418,000 pounds, equal to the power required during an Artemis flight. However, the test's duration was longer than the mission profile, as the engine was fired for 720 seconds. On an Artemis mission, the engines are lit up for 500 seconds, and NASA often tests them beyond the requirements to ensure that the hardware can support any unexpected situation.

2 of 9

The gimballing portion of the test involved revolving the engine around slowly at first and then making rapid moves to stay in position for a couple of seconds around the pitch and yaw axes. The size and power of the rocket engine did not stop the maneuvers from looking rather routine, showcasing the intense technical prowess of the gimbal systems.

Before the test, NASA's test conductor Bradley Tyree shared important details about the test, explaining that the agency had planned to stress test the engine's power and maneuverability. He explained:

During today's engine test, you'll notice the rocket engine gimbal. Or, in other words, it'll pivot around the central point right. This gimballing is used during flight to control and stabilize the rocket as it reaches orbit. We want to use the gimballing to control the trajectory of the rocket as it reaches orbit. During the test, we'll take this gimballing, and we'll take it as far as it can go right to simulate any kind of conditions it might experience during a flight.

One of the cool things about the rocket engine test that most people don't know about is that we actually take the rocket engine past its limits, past any parameters that it might see during a flight right. We take to a higher power level, to higher pressures,and we gimbal this engine to higher angles of attack than we'll probably see during a launch, during a flight situation. And that's because you know if I was an astronaut on board this rocket ship, I would want to know that this thing's been tested to its absolute limits right? It needs to be able to perform more than it's designed for, and so that's the whole point of us doing these rocket engine tests.

The engine tested today has several upgrades over the ones that flew the Artemis mission late last year. These include its nozzle, controllers, and more importantly, the powerhead. The latter is made of various components responsible for feeding it fuel and carrying out other crucial functions.

You can take a look at the full test below: