newsletterGRAVITY

...The NASA official put it humorously: As long as there’s gravity, Stennis Space Center has a
future.
...Scott Horowitz, associate administrator for exploration systems, made the comment Nov. 9
after NASA handed over Stennis Space Center’s A-1 Test Stand from the Space Shuttle program
to the Constellation program that’s developing the next generation of spacecraft.
...Horowitz said exotic power systems being developed for space exploration are systems for
travel in deep space. But in all cases, there will still be a need for large, powerful rockets that will
take the spacecraft from the grip of gravity.
...That’s why Stennis will continue to be important.
...The A-1 Test Stand will be used to test the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne J-2X engine, which
will be used for the rocket that will carry America’s new spacecraft, Orion. The new spacecraft
also will use Pratt & Whitney’s RS-68 engines, built at Stennis Space Center.
...The concrete and steel A-1 stand, built between 1964 and 1967, is 158 feet high but another
58 feet is buried underground. The A-1 stand and its sister stand, A-2, were built to test the
stages of the Apollo program rocket engines. They were modified in the 1970s to test all main
engines for the space shuttle fleet.
...Stennis will still test shuttle main engines on the A-2 stand through the end of that program in
2010. SSC will test the propulsion systems for the new spacecraft beginning in 2007. – Tcp