Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida began installing four RS-25 engines in the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket on August 24, according to NASA.
The rocket will carry the Artemis III crew into low Earth orbit in 2027.
Engine Flight Histories
Each RS-25 engine holds a unique serial number that records its detailed flight history.
The four assigned engines carry the serial numbers E2054, E2057, E2048, and E2052. These units previously powered multiple space shuttle missions.
Engine 2048 helped launch NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik on the space shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-129.
This same engine flew on Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-95 in 1998.
That 1998 flight returned 77-year-old space pioneer U.S. Sen. John Glenn to orbit, establishing him as the oldest person to fly in space at that time.
