[SLS] NASA Ready For Another Active Year Of J-2X Testing

NASA is kicking off 2012 with a new series of J-2X engine tests, getting one step closer to the first human-rated rocket engine to be developed in 40 years for the next generation of space exploration. J-2X is a highly efficient and versatile advanced rocket engine to power the upper stage of NASA's Space Launch System, a new heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of missions beyond low-Earth orbit.

Testing on a subset of the engine called the "powerpack" will begin soon at NASA's Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi. The J-2X engine is being developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif. for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.