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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 <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
There was a test failure at Stennis yesterday afternoon (May 22), Orbital Sciences spokesman Barry Beneski told Universe Today. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Engineers are examining data to determine the cause of the failure, Beneski told me. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
It terminated prematurely, resulting in extensive damage to the engine, Orbital said in a statement. <\/p>\n
An investigation into the incident by Aerojet and NASA has begun. The cause of the failure is not known. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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Antares Rocket Engine Suffers Significant Failure During Testing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter 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 Continue reading