Ares I Rocket Based on 1960s Design
Marshall Space Flight Center engineers are working to take a 1960s era rocket engine design and add a 21st century twist of technology for NASA’s next rocket, the Ares I.
The J-2 engine was used on the upper stage of the Marshall-managed Saturn IB and the second and third stages of the Saturn V during the Apollo moon program. Today, Marshall engineers are updating the design - known as J-2X - to make the engine more efficient and give it more thrust.
“We aren’t starting with a clean-sheet new design for this, but it’s not a matter of just building an engine NASA used during Apollo,” said Mike Kynard, Marshall’s manager of the upper stage engine element. “This engine will be larger and has to put out more thrust than the old Apollo era J-2.” Read more
