NASA'S Commercial Crew Partner Hot-Fires Launch Abort Engine

Mar. 13, 2012

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov

Susan Wells
The Boeing Co.
321-264-8580
susan.h.wells@boeing.com

Erin Dick/Carri Karuhn
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
818-586-4977/818-586-4963
erin.dick@pwr.utc.com/carri.karuhn@pwr.utc.com

RELEASE: 12-083

NASA'S COMMERCIAL CREW PARTNER HOT-FIRES LAUNCH ABORT ENGINE

CANOGA PARK, Calif. -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, which is supporting
The Boeing Company during the development of its CST-100 spacecraft
in NASA's Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2), completed
mission-duration hot-fire tests on a launch abort engine on Friday,
March 9. The demonstration in California is one of many milestones
Boeing is meeting for its funded Space Act Agreement during CCDev2.

"Boeing and its contractor, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, continue to
make good progress on milestones supporting the development of their
commercial crew transportation capabilities," said Ed Mango,
Commercial Crew Program program manager. "The eventual availability
of these capabilities from a U.S. domestic provider will enhance U.S.
competitiveness and open new markets for the U.S. aerospace
industry."

Boeing's Crew Space Transportation system is a reusable,
capsule-shaped spacecraft designed to take up to seven people, or a
combination of people and cargo, to low Earth orbit, including the
International Space Station. Its service module and integrated launch
abort propulsion system are designed to push the crew capsule to
safety if an abort becomes necessary during launch or ascent. If an
abort is not necessary, the system's propellant could be used for
other portions of a mission, including re-boosting the orbit of the
space station.

"We achieved full thrust on the 40,000-pound thrust-class engine while
validating key operating conditions during engine start-up and shut
down," said Terry Lorier, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne's Commercial
Crew Development program manager, who supports Boeing's program.

Under its fixed-price contract with Boeing, Pratt and Whitney
Rocketdyne is combining its Attitude Control Propulsion System
thrusters from heritage spaceflight programs, Bantam abort engine
design and storable propellant engineering capabilities.

"The tests provided key thermal and analytical data," Lorier said. "We
are well on our way to providing an important propulsion system for
safe, reliable human spaceflight."

All of NASA's industry partners under CCDev2 continue to meet their
established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation
capabilities.

For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program and CCDev2,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

-end-

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