NASA on Thursday attributed a successful test of engines on a Boeing-built rocket to Artemis missions aimed at returning American astronauts to the moon by 2024, more than half a century since the last lunar eclipse.
The four RS-25 engines came alive the full eight minutes of the test and filled the surrounding area and air with clouds of white smoke. After the engines were turned off, NASA employees could be heard cheering on the space agency’s live video, and many airlines congratulated NASA in public on a successful test.
A previous test in January ended after about a minute – less than the approximately four minutes engineers needed to gather enough data.
The Space Launch System is now expected to go to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration with Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Orion spacecraft.
President Joe Biden has appointed former Democratic senator and astronaut Bill Nelson to run the U.S. space agency, according to two people familiar with the decision.
It was a very coveted victory for Boeing after several setbacks.
Boeing lost a race to its Starliner crew capsule to transport Elon Musk’s first astronaut from American soil to the International Space Station in almost a decade.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is also rushing to send his own mission to space for the first time.