Article Posted on : - Sep 29, 2011

NASA conducted a 40-second test of the J-2X rocket engine on Wednesday. Photo: NASA.

WASHINGTON (BNS): NASA has completed a 40 second test of the J-2X rocket engine on Wednesday, the agency said.

The series of tests of the next-generation engine selected as a part of the Space Launch System architecture will once again carry humans into deep space.

The test was conducted at the 99 percent power level to gain a better understanding of start and shutdown systems as well as modifications that had been made from previous test firing results.

The test at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi came just two weeks after the agency announced plans for the new SLS to be powered by core-stage RS-25 D/E and upper-stage J-2X engines.