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NASA testing vintage engine left over from Apollo 11 rocket to improve for future missions

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Good ideas from the past come back around eventually.

At NASA, that means looking to the Apollo program for new ideas to develop the next generation of rockets for future space missions to the moon and beyond.

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On Thursday, young engineers who weren’t even alive when Neil Armstrong took his small step completed a series of tests on part of a vintage Apollo engine.

The gas generator part of the motor released a deafening roar when it was ignited on a test stand at Marshall Space Flight Center in northern Alabama.

Engineers are learning the technology behind the liquid propulsion and thinking about how it can be updated and improved for the future.

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