This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

(VJASA
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Main Engines Power Space Shuttle
Before NASA launches a Space Shuttle with its valuable human cargo into space, all systems must be put through ground tests to prove their flight worthiness. Critical components of the Space Shuttle are the three main engines and two solid rocket motors which propel the vehicle into low-Earth orbit. At NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Miss., all of the shuttle’s main engines are put through rigorous tests on the ground to ensure the engine performance is acceptable and that the required thrust will be delivered in the critical ascent phase of shuttle flights. At sea level, one main engine produces approximately 375,000 pounds of thrust.
SSC-88-654-1