NASA conducted a J-2X rocket engine test on Dec. 14, the 10th firing in a series of tests on the new upper-stage engine for NASA's Space Launch System. The J-2X engine was test fired on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center, in south Mississippi. The main focus of this
test was to characterize engine performance calibration and the effects of fuel inlet pressure variations. The results of this test are being analyzed.

The engine -- No. 10001 -- now will be removed from the test stand to allow for addition of a nozzle extension and associated test facility modifications needed for additional engine tests in 2012. The J-2X engine is being developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.