Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a United Technologies Corp. company, has completed a series of successful tests on a gas generator for the J-2X rocket engine that will power the nation’s new Ares I and Ares V second-stage launch vehicles.
The vehicles are scheduled to send US astronauts to the International Space Station and back to the moon by 2020.
The gas generator for the J-2X will use the same technology currently used on the proven RS-68, the largest liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen rocket engine developed to power the Delta IV family of expendable launch vehicle.
Tests on the newly designed generator have helped determine the performance and stability of the J-2X configuration, while also helping engineers to finalise the specifications for the unit to be tested on the power-pack and development engines.
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