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6 Min Read NASA Stennis Flashback: Learning About Rocket Engine Smoke for Safe Space Travel
An image shows engineers at an early version of the test stand at the Diagnostic Testbed Facility. From 1988 to the mid-1990s, NASA Stennis engineers operated the facility to conduct rocket engine plume exhaust diagnostics and learn more about the space shuttle main engine combustion process. Credits: NASA/Stennis NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, is widely known as the nation’s largest rocket propulsion test site. More than 35 years ago, it also served as a hands-on classroom for NASA engineers seeking to improve the efficiency of space shuttle main engines.
From 1988 to the mid-1990’s, NASA Stennis engineers operated a Diagnostic Test Facility to conduct rocket engine plume exhaust diagnostics and learn more about the space shuttle main engine combustion process. The effort also laid the groundwork for the frontline research-and-development testing conducted at the center today.
“The Diagnostic Test Facility work is just another example of the can-do, will-do attitude of the NASA Stennis team and of its willingness to support the nation’s space exploration program in all ways needed and possible,” said Joe Schuyler, director of the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate.
The Diagnostic Test Facility work is just another example of the can-do, will-do attitude of the NASA Stennis team…
joe schuyler
NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate Director
Tests conducted at the Diagnostic Testbed Facility played a critical safety role for engine operations and also provided a real-time opportunity for NASA Stennis engineers to learn about exhaust diagnostics. NASA/Stennis An image shows the Diagnostic Testbed Facility test stand data acquisition trailer. NASA/Stennis The Need
Envision a rocket or space vehicle launching into the sky. A trail of bright exhaust, known as the engine plume, follows. As metals wear down in the engines from the intense heat of the combustion process, the flame glows with colors, some visible, such as orange or yellow, and others undetectable by the human eye.
The colors tell a story – about the health and operation of the engine and its components. For space shuttle main engines, which flew on multiple missions, engineers needed to understand that story, much as a doctor needs to understand the condition of a human body during checkup, to ensure future engine operation.
Where better place to study such details than the nation’s premier propulsion test site? Paging NASA Stennis.
An image shows the rocket motor and thruster at the Diagnostic Testbed Facility. NASA/Stennis An image shows the Diagnostic Testbed Facility blended team of NASA personnel and contractors. Kneeling, left to right, is Brantly Adams (NASA), Felix Bircher (Sverdrup Technology), Dennis Butts (Sverdrup Technology), and Nikki Raines (Sverdrup Technology). Standing, left to right, NASA astronaut John Young, Greg Sakala (Sverdrup Technology), Barney Nokes (Sverdrup Technology), John Laboda (Sverdrup Technology), Glenn Varner (NASA), Stan Gill (NASA), Bud Nail (NASA), Don Sundeen (Sverdrup Technology), NASA astronaut John Blaha.NASA/Stennis The Facility
NASA Stennis has long enabled and supported innovative and collaborative work to benefit both the agency and the commercial space industry. When NASA came calling in the late 1980s, site engineers went to work on a plan to study space shuttle main engine rocket exhaust.
The concept for an enabling structure about the size of a home garage was born in October 1987. Five months later, construction began on a Diagnostic Testbed Facility to provide quality research capabilities for studying rocket engine exhaust and learning more about the metals burned off during hot fire.
The completed facility featured a 1,300-square-foot control and data analysis center, as well as a rooftop observation deck. Small-scale infrastructure was located nearby for testing a 1,000-pound-thrust rocket engine that simulated the larger space shuttle main engine. The 1K engine measured about 2 feet in length and six inches in diameter. Using a small-scale engine allowed for greater flexibility and involved less cost than testing the much-larger space shuttle engine.
An image shows Sverdrup Technology’s Robert Norfleet as he preps the dopant injection system for testing at the Diagnostic Testbed Facility. The goal of the facility was to inject known metals and materials in a chemical form and then look at what emissions were given off. During one test, generally a six or 12 second test, operators would inject three known dopants, or substances, and then run distilled water between each test to clean out the system.NASA/Stennis An image shows engineers Stan Gill, Robert Norfleet, and Elizabeth Valenti in the Diagnostic Testbed Facility test control center. NASA/Stennis The Process
Engineers could quickly conduct multiple short-duration hot fires using the smaller engine. A six-second test provided ample time to collect data from engine exhaust that reached as high as 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit.
Chemical solutions simulating engine materials were injected into the engine combustion chamber for each hot fire. The exhaust plume then was analyzed using a remote camera, spectrometer, and microcomputers to determine what colors certain metals and elements emit when burning.
Each material produced a unique profile. By matching the profiles to the exhaust of space shuttle main engine tests conducted at NASA Stennis, determinations could be made about which engine components were undergoing wear and what maintenance was needed.
We learned about purging, ignition, handling propellants, high-pressure gases, and all the components you had to have to make it work…It was a very good learning experience.
Glenn Varner
NASA Stennis Engineer
The Benefits
The Diagnostic Testbed Facility played a critical safety role for engine operations and also provided a real-time opportunity for NASA Stennis engineers to learn about exhaust diagnostics.
Multiple tests were conducted. The average turnaround time between hot fires was 18 to 20 minutes with the best turnaround from one test to another taking just 12 minutes. By January 1991, the facility had recorded a total of 588 firings for a cumulative 3,452 seconds.
As testing progressed, the facility team evolved into a collection of experts in plume diagnostics. Longtime NASA Stennis engineer Glenn Varner serves as the mechanical operations engineer at the Thad Cochran Test Stand, where he contributed to the successful testing of the first SLS (Space Launch System) core stage onsite.
However, much of Varner’s hands-on experience came at the Diagnostic Test Facility. “We learned about purging, ignition, handling propellants, high-pressure gases, and all the components you had to have to make it work,” he said. “It was a very good learning experience.”
An image shows the Diagnostic Testbed Facility team working in the test control center. Seated, left to right, is Steve Nunez, Glenn Varner, Joey Kirkpatrick. Standing, back row left to right, is Scott Dracon and Fritz Policelli. Vince Pachel is pictured standing wearing the headset. NASA/Stennis The physical remnants of the Diagnostic Testbed Facility are barely recognizable now, but that spirit and approach embodied by that effort and its teams continues in force at the center.
joe schuyler
NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate Director
The Impact
The Diagnostic Testbed Facility impacted more than just those engineers involved in the testing. Following the initial research effort, the facility underwent modifications in January 1993. Two months later, facility operators completed a successful series of tests on a small-scale liquid hydrogen turbopump for a California-based aerospace company.
The project marked an early collaboration between the center and a commercial company and helped pave the way for the continued success of the NASA Stennis E Test Complex. Building on Diagnostic Testbed Facility knowledge and equipment, the NASA Stennis complex now supports multiple commercial aerospace projects with its versatile infrastructure and team of propulsion test experts.
“The physical remnants of the Diagnostic Testbed Facility are barely recognizable now,” Schuyler said. “But that spirit and approach embodied by that effort and its teams continues in force at the center.”
Additional Information
NASA Stennis has leveraged hardware and expertise from the Diagnostic Testbed Facility to provide benefit to NASA and industry for two decades and counting.
The facility’s thruster, run tanks, valves, regulators and instrumentation were used in developing the versatile four-stand E Test Complex at NASA Stennis that includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities.
“The Diagnostic Testbed Facility was the precursor to that,” said NASA engineer Glenn Varner. “Everything but the structure still in the grass moved to the E-1 Test Stand, Cell 3. Plume diagnostics was part of the first testing there.”
When plume diagnostic testing concluded at E-1, equipment moved to the E-3 Test Stand, where the same rocket engine used for the Diagnostic Testbed Facility has since performed many test projects.
The Diagnostic Testbed Facility thruster also has been used for various projects at E-3, most recently in a project for the exploration upper stage being built for use on future Artemis missions.
In addition to hardware, engineers who worked at the Diagnostic Testbed Facility also moved on to support E Test Complex projects. There, they helped new NASA engineers learn how to handle gaseous hydrogen and liquid hydrogen propellants. Engineers learned about purging, ignition, and handling propellants and all the components needed for a successful test.
“From an engineering perspective, the more knowledge you have of the processes and procedures to make propulsion work, the better off you are,” Varner said. “It applied then and still applies today. The Diagnostic Testbed Facility contributed to the future development of NASA Stennis infrastructure and expertise.”
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Last Updated Feb 25, 2025 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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By NASA
Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) in a cleanroom at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. After final installations are complete, it will be packaged and transported to the United States for final outfitting before being integrated with Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element and launched to lunar orbit. Thales Alenia Space Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts on missions to and around the Moon. The agency and its international partners report progress continues on Gateway, the first space station that will permanently orbit the Moon, after visiting the Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy, where initial fabrication for one of two Gateway habitation modules is nearing completion.
Leaders from NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), and the Italian Space Agency, as well as industry representatives from Northrop Grumman and Thales Alenia Space, were in Turin to assess Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) module before its primary structure is shipped from Italy to Northrop Grumman’s Gilbert, Arizona site in March. Following final outfitting and verification testing, the module will be integrated with the Power and Propulsion Element at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Building and testing hardware for Gateway is truly an international collaboration,” said Jon Olansen, manager, Gateway Program, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We’re excited to celebrate this major flight hardware milestone, and this is just the beginning – there’s impressive and important progress taking shape with our partners around the globe, united by our shared desire to expand human exploration of our solar system while advancing scientific discovery.”
Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) in a cleanroom at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. After final installations are complete, it will be packaged and transported to the United States for final outfitting before being integrated with Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element and launched to lunar orbit.Thales Alenia Space To ensure all flight hardware is ready to support Artemis IV — the first crewed mission to Gateway – NASA is targeting the launch of HALO and the Power and Propulsion Element no later than December 2027. These integrated modules will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and spend about a year traveling uncrewed to lunar orbit, while providing scientific data on solar and deep space radiation during transit.
Launching atop HALO will be ESA’s Lunar Link communication system, which will provide high-speed communication between the Moon and Gateway. The system is undergoing testing at another Thales Alenia Space facility in Cannes, France.
Once in lunar orbit, Gateway will continue scientific observations while awaiting the arrival of Artemis IV astronauts aboard an Orion spacecraft which will deliver and dock Gateway’s second pressurized habitable module, the ESA-led Lunar I-Hab. Thales Alenia Space, ESA’s primary contractor for the Lunar I-Hab and Lunar View refueling module, has begun production of the Lunar I-Hab, and design of Lunar View in Turin.
Teams from NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), including NASA astronaut Stan Love (far right) and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano (far left) help conduct human factors testing inside a mockup of Gateway’s Lunar I-Hab module.Thales Alenia Space Northrop Grumman and its subcontractor, Thales Alenia Space, completed welding of HALO in 2024, and the module successfully progressed through pressure and stress tests to ensure its suitability for the harsh environment of deep space.
Maxar Space Systems is assembling the Power and Propulsion Element, which will make Gateway the most powerful solar electric propulsion spacecraft ever flown. Major progress in 2024 included installation of Xenon and chemical propulsion fuel tanks, and qualification of the largest roll-out solar arrays ever built. NASA and its partners will complete propulsion element assembly, and acceptance and verification testing of next-generation electric propulsion thrusters this year.
The main bus of Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element undergoes assembly and installations at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California.Maxar Space Systems SpaceX will provide both the Starship human landing system that will land astronauts on the lunar surface during NASA’s Artemis III mission and ferry astronauts from Gateway to the lunar South Pole region during Artemis IV, as well as provide logistics spacecraft to support crewed missions.
NASA also has selected Blue Origin to develop Blue Moon, the human landing system for Artemis V, as well as logistics spacecraft for future Artemis missions. Having two distinct lunar landing designs provides flexibility and supports a regular cadence of Moon landings in preparation for future missions to Mars.
CSA (Canadian Space Agency) is developing Canadarm3, an advanced robotics system, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) is designing and testing Lunar I-Hab’s vital life support systems, batteries, and a resupply and logistics vehicle called HTV-XG.
NASA’s newest Gateway partner, the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates, kicked off early design for the Gateway Crew and Science Airlock that will be delivered on Artemis VI. The selection of Thales Alenia Space as its airlock prime contractor was announced by MBRSC on Feb. 4.
Development continues to advance on three radiation-focused initial science investigations aboard Gateway. These payloads will help scientists better understand unpredictable space weather from the Sun and galactic cosmic rays that will affect astronauts and equipment during Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
The Gateway lunar space station is a multi-purpose platform that offers capabilities for long-term exploration in deep space in support of NASA’s Artemis campaign and Moon to Mars objectives. Gateway will feature docking ports for a variety of visiting spacecraft, as well as space for crew to live, work, and prepare for lunar surface missions. As a testbed for future journeys to Mars, continuous investigations aboard Gateway will occur with and without crew to better understand the long-term effects of deep space radiation on vehicle systems and the human body as well as test and operate next generation spacecraft systems that will be necessary to send humans to Mars.
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Last Updated Feb 21, 2025 ContactLaura RochonLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
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By NASA
NASA/Kim Shiflett Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida completed stacking the twin SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters – seen in this Feb. 19, 2025, photo – inside the Vehicle Assembly Building for the agency’s Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon.
During stacking operations, which began Nov. 20, 2024, technicians used a massive overhead crane to lift each booster segment into place on mobile launcher 1, the 380-foot-tall structure used to process, assemble, and launch the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.
Learn more about the process of stacking from Exploration Ground Systems.
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By NASA
Explore This Section Science Science Activation An Afternoon of Family Science… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 2 min read
An Afternoon of Family Science and Rocket Exploration in Alaska
On Tuesday, January 28th, Fairbanks BEST Homeschool joined the Geophysical Institute for an afternoon of rocket exploration, hands-on activities, and stargazing inside a planetarium. This event was free and open to the public. Despite their frigid winter weather, 200 attendees were curious about the scientific endeavors of Alaska-based researchers alongside cutting-edge investigations conducted by NASA rocket scientists.
Families and friends in attendance learned about two NASA rocket missions that would study the flickering and vanishing auroras: Ground Imaging to Rocket investigation of Auroral Fast Features (GIRAFF) and Black and Diffuse Aurora Science Surveyor (BaDASS). Visitors had an opportunity to sign up for text notifications related to the launch window. The planetarium presentations touch on Heliophysics Big Ideas that align with the three questions that drive NASA’s heliophysics research:
What are the impacts of the changing sun on humanity? How do Earth, the solar system, and the heliosphere respond to changes on the sun? What causes the sun to vary? The event also offered sun-related hands-on activities provided by the University of Alaska Museum of the North.
This event was offered to the community in association with the Science For Alaska Lecture Series and the 2025 NASA Sounding Rocket campaign. Every attendee left with something inspiring to think about. Parents and educators interested in learning more about auroras and do participatory science may check out NASA’s Aurorasaurus citizen science project.
The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is a Co-Investigating team for the NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT), which is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
Aurora Educational Resource List by Aurorasaurus
Families constructed and decorated their paper rockets. Katelin Avery It was so much fun! We are receiving rave reviews from our families and the surrounding community. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR COLLABORATING WITH US!
Fairbanks BEST Homeschool
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