"It's a great feeling that this engine-that has carried so many astronauts into space before-is being prepared to take astronauts to space once again on SLS's first crewed flight," stated Steve Wofford, engines manager at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, where the Space Launch System program is managed for NASA. It also helped power Endeavour's STS-130 flight to deliver the Tranquility node and cupola to the space station in 2010. Prior to that, SSME 2059 helped launch the shuttle Atlantis on three missions, including two to the International Space Station-STS-117 in 2007 and STS-122 in 2008-and on the final mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope, STS-125 in 2009. The mission was the second-to-last flight for the orbiter fleet overall. 2059 last flew as one of the three engines on the final flight of the space shuttle Endeavour, STS-134, in May 2011. The engines NASA will use for the initial SLS missions are from the 16 flight articles remaining from the retired shuttle program. Four of the engines, formerly known as space shuttle main engines (SSME), will help power the SLS core stage. The 8-minute-long firing marked the first test of an RS-25 flight engine for NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, being built to carry humans on future missions into the solar system, including to the moon's vicinity and Mars. "We have exciting days ahead with a return to deep space and a journey to Mars, and this test is a very big step in that direction." Louis, Mississippi, where Thursday's hot-fire test took place. "What a great moment for NASA," said Rick Gilbrech, the director of NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. The next time that particular engine, serial number 2059, fires for that length of time, it will be to launch astronauts on NASA's first crewed mission beyond Earth orbit since the last of the Apollo moon missions more than 45 years ago. The space agency successfully test fired the RS-25 rocket engine for a full 500 seconds, clearing a milestone toward its exploration goals. A rocket engine that helped launch five space shuttle missions, including the penultimate flight of the program in 2011, was fired again on Thursday (March 10) in preparation for the first crewed flight of NASA's new heavy-lift rocket.
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