The Space Shuttle's Main Engine (SSME) reached another milestone Aug. 19, 2004, when a successful flight acceptance test was conducted at NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC). The engine tested was the final of three engines that will carry the next Space Shuttle into orbit. The engine will be shipped to NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida for installation on Space Shuttle Discovery for STS-114, NASA's Return to Flight mission. The engine test, which began about 8:10 p.m. CDT, ran for 520 seconds (8 minutes), the length of time it takes for the Space Shuttle to reach orbit.
