SpaceX Raptor Engine Passes Cold Test for Artemis Moon Mission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

In preparation of landing humans on the Moon as part of the ongoing Artemis program, SpaceX recently ran a test of one of its lunar lander engines while simulating the cold temperatures of space.

The private space venture demonstrated a vacuum-optimized Raptor, evaluating the engine's performance through a test that successfully confirmed the engine can be started in the extreme cold conditions resulting from extended time in space," NASA announced on Thursday.

NASA signed a $2.89 billion contract with SpaceX to develop a human landing system for Artemis 3, which is tentatively scheduled to land astronauts on the Moon in 2025, in addition to a separate $1.15 billion contract signed last year for Artemis 4, which will follow in 2028.

[...] The test, which took place last month, was the second one to demonstrate the Starship Raptor engine's ability to perform on the lunar surface. In November 2021, SpaceX tested the engine's ability to perform a descent burn to land on the surface of the Moon. During the 2021 test, which lasted for 281 seconds, Raptor demonstrated the powered descent portion of the mission, when the Starship [Human Landing System] leaves its orbit over the lunar surface and begins its descent to the Moon's surface to land," NASA wrote.

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