NASA successfully conducted a ground test yesterday for its massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket boosters.
The , which occurred at a facility in Promontory, Utah, took two minutes and generated 3.6 million pounds of thrust.
At 1.6 million pounds, the booster itself took months to heat up to its maximum accepted propellant temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The inside of the booster reaches temperatures of over 5,600 degrees during the actual test.
NASA is also planning a "cold-temperature test" for 2016 to gather data on the booster's full range of performance at varying degrees.
When the SLS deep space missions begin, rockets will be equipped with two of these five-segment boosters and four RS-25 engines.
These generate over 75 percent of the required thrust necessary to leave Earth's gravity, according to .
In other space-related news, NASA recently collected data that reveals environmental features on that are conducive to life.