Engine 12 million horsepower to bring man to Mars – Diario Hoy (Argentina)

The RS-25 was designed in the seventies and although it is not new, today remains the favorite for space travel. This is a rocket engine that will propel the space shuttle SLS, with which we will try to travel to asteroids and Mars himself. In all this time it has been the cornerstone of the Space Shuttle Program. Therefore, over 135 missions, has fallen on their shoulders the job of transporting astronauts and tens of billions of research dollars and machinery.

Last Thursday, the NASA has returned to dust off this monster to test their capabilities. For 500 seconds, the rocket engine was roaring its 12 million horsepower in the hangar Testing Since rockets John C. Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA, USA.

“We are going through a very emotional day for the return of long space travel and the possibility of taking a trip to Mars. This test has been a big step in that direction, “said Rick Gilbrech, the director of the facility.

And his words are not a mere declaration of intent. NASA is expected that the RS-25 drives the core of the new Space Launch System (SLS), future shuttle will carry astronauts to an asteroid and to Mars.

compared to a Formula 1

While a Formula 1 car can reach speeds of more than 400 kms. per hour, NASA hopes the SLS reaches a speed of 36,456 kms. per hour. The challenge will be one of the most difficult ever made: to leave behind Earth’s gravity and put to work instruments and men in space

As Martin Burkey, of the SLS program team explains. to get this achievement the RS-25 rocket propellants must mix cooled to 250 degrees Celsius (hence during ignition ice blocks from arising engines) and make them burn up to 3,300 degrees. In addition, to generate such a brutal impulse is necessary that the fuel flow is very high: could empty a family pool in a minute. As a result, each engine would have a 10 portaavioones enough to push the ocean at a speed of 40 kms power. per hour.

When the ground test phase is completed, is expected to begin no manned flight in 2018, with the RS-25 loading the SLS and Orion spacecraft around the Moon. If all goes well, then they begin manned flights, and the final voyage to Mars would be launched in 2030.