Blue Origin fires up the engine of its future Moon lander for the first time

For the first time, aerospace company Blue Origin has fired up a brand-new engine the company developed for its future Moon lander. The engine, dubbed the BE-7, ignited for a full 35 seconds during a test at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. It’s a big step for the company as it prepares to build its lander, named Blue Moon, and eventually send it to the lunar surface.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos tweeted out a video of the test last night. The recording shows flames coming from the engine horizontally, first appearing bright green and then turning clear for the rest of the test. The green flames can be attributed to the fluid that the BE-7 uses to start the ignition of the engine. Once that fluid burns away, the flames become clear…

Continue reading…

from The Verge – All Posts http://bit.ly/2FgChHp
via IFTTT