Antares Rocket Engine Suffers Significant Failure During Testing

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Hotfire test of Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 engines on the E-1 Test Stand at NASAs Stennis Space Center on Jan 17, 2014. Credit: NASA See up close AJ26 photos below

A Russian built rocket engine planned for future use in the first stage of Orbital Sciences Corp. commercial Antares rocket launching to the International Space Station failed during pre-launch acceptance testing on Thursday afternoon, May 22, at NASAs Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

There was a test failure at Stennis yesterday afternoon (May 22), Orbital Sciences spokesman Barry Beneski told Universe Today.

The Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 rocket engine failed with extensive damage about halfway through the planned test aimed at qualifying the engine for an Antares flight scheduled for early next year.

Engineers are examining data to determine the cause of the failure, Beneski told me.

The test was initiated at about 3:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday and the anomaly occurred approximately 30 seconds into the planned 54-second test.

It terminated prematurely, resulting in extensive damage to the engine, Orbital said in a statement.

An investigation into the incident by Aerojet and NASA has begun. The cause of the failure is not known.

During hot-fire testing on May 22 at NASAs Stennis Space Center, Aerojet Rocketdynes AJ26 engine experienced a test anomaly. The company is leading an investigation to determine the cause, Aerojet spokesperson Jessica Pieczonka told Universe Today.

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Antares Rocket Engine Suffers Significant Failure During Testing

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