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NASA successfully tests rocket engines designed for deep space
NASA says that its latest tests are a milestone towards the next stage of space exploration — and Mars. It successfully fired an RS-25 rocket engine for 500 seconds on Thursday March 10th. This is the same engine that will eventually send astronauts on the first deep-space mission in more than 45 years. It's a key part of NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS), aimed at taking humans to nearby asteroids and, after that, the red planet. Four of these engines power the SLS — making up a combined thrust of two million pounds.
Visualized: Where NASA's SLS will get high
We've still got quite a while to go before NASA gets back into the space travel game with SLS, but the first pieces of the potential inter-planetary transportation puzzle are starting to fall into place. The $500 million mobile launch tower of the future has already been rolled out and is undergoing structural testing at the Kennedy Space Center. You owe it to yourself to hit up the source link for some more images, including a few from atop the tower.
