AmericaSpace Note: Really too bad that NASA doesn’t highlight the program successes of Constellation any longer. But fortunately, NASA still does post updates on its Constellation Program site. And progress is being made. Pretty soon, the J2-X will be lit-up for the first time. A successful test will help to dispel the myth that Constellation is on an unsustainable trajectory or, as some like to claim, “impossible”.
A blast of hot gas emerges from Test Stand 116 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center during the second round of J-2X gas generator testing. Credit: NASA/MSFC As assembly continues for NASA’s J-2X engine, engineers have completed analysis of data collected from the latest round of tests of the engine’s workhorse gas generator. The gas generator produces a large volume of hot gas that powers the engine’s turbo-machinery. During the series of hot-fire tests at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center this summer, engineers demonstrated that hardware changes to the gas generator were effective in maintaining engine stability before the first hot-fire tests.