NASA cuts short its test of mega Moon rocket engines

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) shut down its planned test firing of the engines for its giant
Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket, which the organisation conducted on Saturday, earlier than planned, said
the space agency. The “hot-fire” test at the Stennis Space Center in
Mississippi was expected to last a little more than eight minutes, the time the
engines would burn in flight but they close down just over a minute into the
burn.

NASA gave a statement and said, “Teams are assessing the data to
determine what caused the early shutdown, and will determine a path forward”,
reported AFP.

The SLS rocket is planned to launch the Artemis missions that will take
US astronauts back to the Moon. Despite being shortened, NASA mentioned, the
test of the RS-25 engines had given important information for the planned
missions.

“Saturday’s test was an important step forward to ensure that the
core stage of the SLS rocket is ready for the Artemis I mission, and to carry
crew on future missions,” said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.

Also read: Ever wondered what Mars sounds like? NASA is giving us a chance to hear that

He added, “Although the engines did not fire for the full duration,
the team successfully worked through the countdown, ignited the engines, and
gained valuable data to inform our path forward”, reported AFP.

The reason of the early shutdown hasn’t been fount yet but SLS program manager
John Honeycutt informed reporters that they had seen a flash in a thermal
protection blanket on one of the engines and were examining the data. He also
said, “In my opinion the team accomplished a lot today, we learned a lot
about the vehicle”

NASA has
planned to launch its Artemis I mission which will test the
SLS and an unmanned Orion spacecraft before 2021 end.