Artemis 2 moon astronauts celebrate engine test for future lunar missions (video)

Elizabeth Howell
·3 min read
8
Two pictures on top of each other. the top picture shows reid wiseman in a flight suit, from the back, raishing his hands as an engine fires on a test stand far in front of him. the back picture shows a blurry view of steam emitting from a tower during the test.
Two pictures on top of each other. the top picture shows reid wiseman in a flight suit, from the back, raishing his hands as an engine fires on a test stand far in front of him. the back picture shows a blurry view of steam emitting from a tower during the test.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

NASA's next moon mission commander raised his hands in celebration during a powerful rocket engine test.

Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman, a NASA astronaut, was caught on video during the recent testing of the RS-25 engine that will power future versions of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for moon missions.

NASA captured Wiseman and his Artemis 2 crewmate Christina Koch in Mississippi at NASA's Stennis Space Center on March 6, and shared the astronauts enjoying the dramatic view on X (formerly Twitter) a few days later.

The dramatic, 10-minute test is meant to test the engine for excursions "on future Artemis missions to the moon and beyond," NASA officials wrote in a separate press release.

Related: NASA fires up powerful Artemis moon rocket engine in key test (video)

two pictures on top of each other. the top picture shows reid wiseman in a flight suit, from the back, raishing his hands as an engine fires on a test stand far in front of him. the back picture shows a blurry view of steam emitting from a tower during the test
two pictures on top of each other. the top picture shows reid wiseman in a flight suit, from the back, raishing his hands as an engine fires on a test stand far in front of him. the back picture shows a blurry view of steam emitting from a tower during the test

Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman celebrates during a hotfire of the Space Launch System's RS-25 engine on March 6, 2024 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. (Image credit: Foreground: NASA/X. Background: NASA/Danny Nowlin. Overlay: Elizabeth Howell)

The RS-25 is a veteran engine type, having been used in the space shuttle program for a generation. Flown space shuttle engines were used on an uncrewed moon excursion, Artemis 1, in 2022. The same will happen with Artemis 2, which will launch four astronauts around the moon in 2025, and the future moon-landing missions Artemis 3 and Artemis 4.

Artemis 5 and later missions, however, aim to use new variants of the RS-25 that will have additional thrust available. That's a big impetus behind the 12-test series that is ongoing in 2024 to certify the new RS-25 type.

"Engineers are collecting test data to certify an updated engine production process, using innovative manufacturing techniques, for lead engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company," NASA officials wrote of the March 6 test, the ninth of 12 in the planned series.

steam emitting from a tower during an engine test
steam emitting from a tower during an engine test

A full-duration RS-25 engine hot fire test on March 6, 2024 at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. (Image credit: NASA/Danny Nowlin)

"During the March 6 test, operators fired the certification engine for 10 minutes [or] 600 seconds, longer than the amount of time needed to help launch the SLS rocket and send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft into orbit," NASA officials continued, referring to a typical eight-minute launch for SLS.

The team also tested engine power levels between 80% and 113% "to test performance in multiple scenarios," officials added.

The four Artemis 2 astronauts are commander Wiseman, mission specialist Koch (who will become the first woman to leave low Earth orbit, or LEO), NASA pilot Victor Glover (who will become the first Black person beyond LEO), and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen (the first non-American).

four astronauts in orange spacesuits pose for a portrait
four astronauts in orange spacesuits pose for a portrait

The Artemis 2 crew. Clockwise from left: NASA mission specialist Christina Koch, NASA pilot Victor Glover, Canadian Space Agency specialist Jeremy Hansen and NASA commander Reid Wiseman. (Image credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel)

RELATED STORIES:

— US must beat China back to the moon, Congress tells NASA

— Astronauts won't walk on the moon until 2026 after NASA delays next 2 Artemis missions

— 55 years after Apollo 8's Christmas at the moon, a new Artemis crew readies for launch (exclusive)

Artemis 2 and successor mission Artemis 3 were both delayed earlier this year for numerous technical reasons, with Artemis 2 pushing nine months later to September 2025 and Artemis 3 delaying about a year to September 2026. The Artemis 3 crew has not yet been named by NASA.

All Artemis missions aim to meet the bold goals of the Artemis program, which aims to establish a long-term settlement near the moon's south pole, where water ice is thought to be abundant. The NASA-led Artemis Accords have 35 signatories that commit to following U.S.-led peaceful space exploration norms. Some of those countries are direct contributors to Artemis through hardware in exchange for mission opportunities.