NASA has test-fired an astonishingly powerful engine which will one day propel a manned mission all the way to Mars.

The American space agency tested the RS-25 rocket engine at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi yesterday.

This gigantic booster spat out vast clouds of smoke as it fired up, sending thick smog billowing into the sky.

The super-powerful engine will eventually be fitted to a new NASA rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS.)

Four of the boosters will be used to power this rocket that’s designed to “send humans further into deep space than they have ever traveled, including on the journey to Mars.”

This pioneering engine is the most powerful booster in the world and will be used during the first mission of the Orion spacecraft in 2018, which will blast into space aboard the SLS.

During this mission, the Space Launch System will “fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown.”

“This is a mission that truly will do what hasn’t been done and learn what isn’t known,” said Mike Sarafin, mission manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“It will blaze a trail that people will follow on the next Orion flight, pushing the edges of the envelope to prepare for that mission.”

It’s hoped that the lessons learned from the Orion flights will help to pave the way for a journey to Mars.