NASA to test engine for 'most powerful rocket in the world' at space center in Mississippi

NASA to test engine for ‘most powerful rocket in the world’ at space center in Mississippi

by: AP

Posted: Jan 15, 2021 / 11:30 AM CST / Updated: Jan 15, 2021 / 07:33 AM CST

LAS VEGAS, NV – JANUARY 11: The NASA logo is displayed at the agency’s booth during CES 2018 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 11, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world’s largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 12 and features about 3,900 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 170,000 attendees. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. — NASA is preparing to test-fire engines on Saturday that could send a rocket to the moon in 2022.

The Stennis Space Center in Mississippi will test all four engines on its new Space Launch System. The system is the only rocket that will be able to send the Orion spacecraft, astronauts and cargo to the moon in a single mission.

Once assembled, NASA says the system “will stand taller than the Statue of Liberty” and will be “the most powerful rocket ever built.”

The test window opens at 4 p.m. Saturday and will run until 6 p.m. The firing of the four RS-25 engines will produce a combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust.