Watch NASA test the engine that will send humans back to deep space

A giant plume of white smoke and a deafening roar broke the quiet along the banks of the Pearl River near the Mississippi-Louisiana border.

That’s where NASA was once again testing one of the engines for the Space Launch System. NASA has done this test firing several times, but this one was special.

The latest test was of RS-25 engine E2063. It’s one of four engines that is slated to become part of Exploration Mission-2, the first SLS mission that will take humans back into space.

The event brought out more than 1,500 people to watch at Stennis Space Center on Oct. 19. The watched, listened and no doubt felt the rocket in a way people who watch launches can’t getting the full volume and strength of 500 seconds of blast as the engine is anchored to the ground, as opposed to rocketing up to space. The viewers also were much closer than the would be at Kennedy, a mere ½ mile away as opposed to the 3 miles minimum at Cape Canaveral.

“For most people, the chance to view a flight engine test in person is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Stennis Director Rick Gilbrech said. “It’s a firsthand look at the American space program. We love sharing that experience and story with others.”

The purpose was to collect data on the engine so that it can move on to the next step, be verified for flight. It’s one of 16 engines being tested that helped support the 135 missions of the space shuttle era. Several have been used for testing in the last year to ensure new controllers work properly. NASA has also ordered six new RS-25 engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne for use in future missions.

Once testing at Stennis is done, it will join three other engines and eventually be joined up with a core stage and make their way to Kennedy Space Center for the eventual launch that will occur no earlier than 2022.

That launch with the Orion capsule will carry humans back into deep space for the first time since Apollo 16’s trip to the moon in 1972.

First up, though, is Exploration Mission-1, which will be unmanned. That one already has its four engines in the next phase, set for pairing up with a core stage at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. EM-1 is slated for 2019.

Stennis Space Center has been testing rockets for NASA launches since 1961 including all the Saturn V rockets of the Apollo era and more than 2,300 space shuttle main engine tests for all 135 space shuttle missions. It now tests all the RS-25 engines, and will test SLS stages including the core stage that will be used on the EM-1 flight.

“Stennis has been on the front lines of the space program for more than 50 years,” Gilbrech said. “This site is a living history book, and the open house test was another page in its incredible story.”

rtribou@orlandosentinel.com, 407-420-5134

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