Hot Fire Test of SLS Rocket Core Stage

Outgoing NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (left) talks with host Leigh D’Angelo during NASA TV live coverage from Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, on Jan. 16, 2021. D’Angelo, from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in nearby New Orleans, hosted the NASA TV coverage prior to the hot fire test of the core stage for the agency’s Space Launch System rocket. The hot fire test of the stage’s four RS-25 engines generated a combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust, just as will occur during an actual launch. The hot fire is the final test of the Green Run test series, a comprehensive assessment of the SLS core stage prior to launching the Artemis I mission to the Moon.