SSC20210116_GR6440

Outgoing NASA Associate Administrator for Communications Bettina Inclan (far right) hosts a press conference following the Green Run hot fire test of the core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on Saturday, January 16, 2021. Seated press conference participants included outgoing NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (center), Stennis Space Center Director Rick Gilbrech (left) and SLS Program Manager John Honeycutt from Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA conducted a hot fire test of the core stage’s four RS-25 engines on the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Scheduled for as long as eight minutes, the engines fired for a little more than one minute to generate 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.