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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Aerojet Rocket Engines Ready for Long Flights

Four rocket engines for the Space Shuttle are ready to be attached to the core stage of the Space Launch System, NASA’s next generation heavy-lift rocket that will take astronauts on missions into deep space, potentially even to Mars. Built by Aerojet Rocketdyne in the San Fernando Valley, the RS-25 engines are among 16 the company has provided to NASA for use on the first four missions of the SLS. Two years ago, Aerojet Rocketdyne received a contract valued at more than $1.2 billion through 2024 to make more RS-25 engines at its Chatsworth campus. “The Space Launch System epitomizes our nation’s legacy of ingenuity and our spirit of exploration,” Aerojet Rocketdyne Chief Executive Eileen Drake said in a prepared statement. “When it launches, SLS will eclipse the performance of any rocket flying today or currently under development.” For deep-space missions, the rocket will stand more than 380 feet tall, weigh 6.5 million pounds and carry a payload of 143 tons. The first test flight is scheduled to take place before November 2018. The first manned mission is scheduled for 2021. The five-section core stage of the rocket is under construction at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The first four RS-25 engines will be sent there and attached to the core stage for a test that will verify the system is ready for flight. “These four engines have a rich and storied history,” said Dan Adamski, RS-25 program director at Aerojet Rocketdyne, in a prepared statement. “Together, they’ve powered 21 shuttle flights with the most experienced engine having flown on 12 separate flights.” The engines have been upgraded with new controllers and with nozzle insulation, for protection and prevention of metal overheating during launch and flight. The 16 engines already supplied to NASA are undergoing testing at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, most recently on Oct. 19. Experimental Aircraft Scaled Composites tested for the first time this month its new experimental aircraft, Model 401. The Mojave aerospace company has built two of the aircraft to demonstrate advanced, low-cost manufacturing techniques. The planes will be made available for research flights to the U.S. government and industry partners. Aaron Cassebeer, project engineer, said the first flight on Oct. 11 made for an exciting time at the company. “Today was a great day for our test team,” Cassebeer said in a prepared statement. “We had a great flight and we are looking forward to the future test program.” Model 401 is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney JTD-15D-5D engine with 3,045 pounds of thrust and capable of flying Mach 0.6 with an endurance of up to three hours. Scaled Composites, founded in 1982, is a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp. Hangar Donation Castle & Cooke Aviation Services Inc. and Aeroplex/Aerolease Group have donated the use of a 10,000-square-foot hangar at Van Nuys Airport for an education fundraiser. The SkillsUSA event on Oct. 27 benefitted students in the Division of Adult and Career Education, or DACE program, of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The hangar donation was valued at $25,000. DACE Executive Director Joseph Stark appreciated the steps taken by Aerolease/Aeroplex and Castle & Cooke to make the donation possible. Elizabeth Penuela, assistant principal at North Valley Occupational Center, secured the donation and the support of Van Nuys Airport with the assistance of airport Manager Flora Margheritis. “It is great to see how passionate and committed the Van Nuys Airport Association is to students across the San Fernando Valley,” Penuela said in a prepared statement. The regional, state and national SkillsUSA competitions give students the opportunity to demonstrate personal, workplace and technical skills. Clay Lacy Scholarships This year Clay Lacy Aviation once again provided scholarships for the maintenance technician program at the North Valley Occupational Center Aviation Center. It is the third year that the Van Nuys charter and aircraft management company has provided the scholarships to students pursuing airframe and powerplant technical studies. The scholarship funds tuition, tools and Federal Aviation Administration exam fees. In the first two years, the scholarships helped 46 students. Twenty-nine have gone on to careers in the aviation and aerospace industry, including NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada-Flintridge and ITT Aerospace in Valencia. Program graduate Jake Orchard, who works at ITT, said the training he received at the aviation center proved invaluable. “I use a lot of the practical, hands-on skills daily,” Orchard said in a prepared statement. “If it wasn’t for the help of the Clay Lacy scholarships, I wouldn’t have been able to take my tests as soon as I did.” Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected]

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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