JX-2 engine powerpack tested

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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Hot-fire powerpack tests on the J-2X engine being developed for NASA have been successfully completed in California by Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne.

The tests allowed evaluation of how engine components would operate in various flight conditions.

"The successful powerpack test provided important data that verified the engine's components and gave us a better understanding of how the turbo-pumps operate," said Walt Janowski, J-2X program manager, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne.

"Each new test brings us closer and closer to engine certification and we are confident the J-2X will be ready to power humans to destinations in space never before visited, including asteroids and Mars."

Powerpack components tested included a gas generator, oxygen and fuel turbo-pumps and the ducts, valves and controls that bring the propellants together to drive the turbines of two turbo-pumps.

Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne said hot-fire tests on the powerpack will continue until the fall. In those test, the components will be subjected to varying pressures, temperatures and flow rates.

The J-X2 engine will be the upper-stage propulsion system for NASA's Space Launch System.