[sarex] Space Shuttle gets New Engine

[arthur z rowe <azrowe@xxxxxxxx>]

Submitted by Arthur - N1ORC

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center 
Huntsville, Ala. 35812 

For release: March 15, 2002

RELEASE: 02-058 

Space Shuttle gets new lift for April 4 launch; new, safer engines to
power Atlantis 
  
What:   
A safer Space Shuttle Atlantis will feature three new, more robust
engines when it launches April 4 on mission STS-110 from Kennedy Space
Center, Fla. 

The new Block II Main Engines incorporate an improved fuel pump -
featuring fewer welds, a stronger integral shaft/disk and more robust
bearings - making them safer and more reliable, and potentially
increasing the number of flights between major overhauls.

A single Block II Engine was successfully demonstrated in July 2001 on
STS-104.  The upcoming mission marks the first time the Shuttle will be
powered by three of the new engines.

Who: 
The Space Shuttle Projects Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
in Huntsville, Ala., manages the main engines, the world's most
sophisticated reusable rocket engine. The new turbopump, made by Pratt
and Whitney of West Palm Beach, Fla., was tested at NASA's Stennis Space
Center in Mississippi. Boeing Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Calif.,
manufactures the Space Shuttle Main Engine.

For additional information:  
News media interested in more information on the Block II Main Engine
upgrades may contact Dave Drachlis of the Marshall Space Flight Center
Media Relations Department at (256) 544-0034.  For more information on
testing of the engine, contact Paul Foerman of the Stennis Space Center
at (228) 688-3341. 

        

--30--

Contact

Dave Drachlis

Media Relations Department

(256) 544-0034

Dave.Drachlis@msfc.nasa.gov

_______

The Web

Media Advisory

http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/releases/2002/02-058.html




Marshall Space Flight Center

Media Relations Department

(256) 544-0034

(256) 544-5852 (fax)

www.msfc.nasa.gov/news







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