U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran backs plan to rehabilitate B-2 rocket test stand

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran backs plan to rehabilitate B-2 rocket test stand

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran says he supports a proposal from NASA to rehabilitate and reuse the B-2 rocket test stand at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Miss. Cochran, R-Miss., says NASA proposes to spend $12 million initially on the project. He says the test stand would support NASA’s Space Launch System program.

Cochran, the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, says Stennis is the only facility in the country capable of testing NASA’s new heavy-lift vehicle that will replace the space shuttle.

Stennis has been conducting testing on the J-2X rocket engine, which would provide upper-stage power for NASA’s SLS.

AP
7/13/12