Jacques van Oene
February 22nd 05, 10:20 PM
June Malone
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)
News release: 05-019
NASA's Space Shuttle program successfully test fired its first Flight
Verification Motor -- a test to further validate the five-year lifespan of a
Reusable Solid Rocket Motor -- Thursday, Feb. 17, at a Promontory, Utah,
test facility.
Shuttle Solid Rocket Motors are certified for flight for five years. The
test of the four-segment motor further substantiates a certification
established by NASA more than 20 years ago at the beginning of the Space
Shuttle Program.
The test was performed at ATK Thiokol Inc., an Alliant Techsystems company,
in Promontory, north of Salt Lake City. ATK Thiokol manufactures the
Shuttle's Solid Rocket Motor. The four right-hand segments of the flight set
Reusable Solid Rocket Motor number 89, or RSRM-89, were used for the test.
The Flight Verification test allows NASA and ATK Thiokol engineers to better
understand mid-life rocket motors and to gather information not typically
gained from previous motor tests. Motor tests generally focus on
guaranteeing that new materials meet safety requirements for the motors. The
static, or stationary, test closely reproduces Space Shuttle launch and
ascent conditions. The two-minute test duration is the same length of time
that the motors perform during Shuttle flights.
During the test, 167 data-gathering instruments were placed on the motor to
provide information on the motor's performance. Additionally, a powerful
X-ray was used to scrutinize how the motor would perform during launch and
ascent. A total of 32 objectives were established for the test, including
determining how the motor's igniter -- which begins combustion -- performs
at mid-life.
The Reusable Solid Rocket Motor is one of the four Shuttle propulsion
elements, which also include the Solid Rocket Boosters, the Main Engines and
the External Tank. Two Solid Rocket Boosters, each consisting of four motor
segments, provide a combined thrust of some 5.8 million pounds for the Space
Shuttle during the first two minutes of flight. The Boosters take the
Shuttle to an altitude of 28 miles at a speed of 3,094 mph before they
separate and fall into the ocean to be retrieved, then refurbished and
prepared for another flight.
Each Solid Rocket Motor is divided into four segments of propellant which
are each bound by a metal casing. Once the segments are joined, they become
part of the left or right Booster.
"This test is just one example of the aggressive testing program NASA
pursues to assure flight safety," said Mike Rudolphi, manager of the Space
Shuttle Propulsion Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala. "It will also allow us to gather information on how a motor
performs that was built immediately prior to the flight set that will launch
STS-114, NASA's Return to Flight mission planned for May."
Static firings of motors are part of the ongoing verification of components,
materials and manufacturing processes required by the Space Shuttle program.
NASA annually tests its solid rocket motors to evaluate, validate and
qualify any proposed improvements or changes.
At 126 feet long and 12 feet in diameter, the Shuttle's Reusable Solid
Rocket Motor is the largest solid rocket motor ever flown and the first
designed for reuse. Each motor segment is 30 feet long and filled with
propellant.
The left-hand motor of the RSRM 89 set will be tested in January of 2007,
according to Jody Singer, manager of the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor
Project, part of the Space Shuttle Propulsion Office.
Test data will be analyzed and the results for each objective provided in a
final report. Following the test, the motor's metal casings and its nozzle
components will be refurbished for reuse.
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)
News release: 05-019
NASA's Space Shuttle program successfully test fired its first Flight
Verification Motor -- a test to further validate the five-year lifespan of a
Reusable Solid Rocket Motor -- Thursday, Feb. 17, at a Promontory, Utah,
test facility.
Shuttle Solid Rocket Motors are certified for flight for five years. The
test of the four-segment motor further substantiates a certification
established by NASA more than 20 years ago at the beginning of the Space
Shuttle Program.
The test was performed at ATK Thiokol Inc., an Alliant Techsystems company,
in Promontory, north of Salt Lake City. ATK Thiokol manufactures the
Shuttle's Solid Rocket Motor. The four right-hand segments of the flight set
Reusable Solid Rocket Motor number 89, or RSRM-89, were used for the test.
The Flight Verification test allows NASA and ATK Thiokol engineers to better
understand mid-life rocket motors and to gather information not typically
gained from previous motor tests. Motor tests generally focus on
guaranteeing that new materials meet safety requirements for the motors. The
static, or stationary, test closely reproduces Space Shuttle launch and
ascent conditions. The two-minute test duration is the same length of time
that the motors perform during Shuttle flights.
During the test, 167 data-gathering instruments were placed on the motor to
provide information on the motor's performance. Additionally, a powerful
X-ray was used to scrutinize how the motor would perform during launch and
ascent. A total of 32 objectives were established for the test, including
determining how the motor's igniter -- which begins combustion -- performs
at mid-life.
The Reusable Solid Rocket Motor is one of the four Shuttle propulsion
elements, which also include the Solid Rocket Boosters, the Main Engines and
the External Tank. Two Solid Rocket Boosters, each consisting of four motor
segments, provide a combined thrust of some 5.8 million pounds for the Space
Shuttle during the first two minutes of flight. The Boosters take the
Shuttle to an altitude of 28 miles at a speed of 3,094 mph before they
separate and fall into the ocean to be retrieved, then refurbished and
prepared for another flight.
Each Solid Rocket Motor is divided into four segments of propellant which
are each bound by a metal casing. Once the segments are joined, they become
part of the left or right Booster.
"This test is just one example of the aggressive testing program NASA
pursues to assure flight safety," said Mike Rudolphi, manager of the Space
Shuttle Propulsion Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala. "It will also allow us to gather information on how a motor
performs that was built immediately prior to the flight set that will launch
STS-114, NASA's Return to Flight mission planned for May."
Static firings of motors are part of the ongoing verification of components,
materials and manufacturing processes required by the Space Shuttle program.
NASA annually tests its solid rocket motors to evaluate, validate and
qualify any proposed improvements or changes.
At 126 feet long and 12 feet in diameter, the Shuttle's Reusable Solid
Rocket Motor is the largest solid rocket motor ever flown and the first
designed for reuse. Each motor segment is 30 feet long and filled with
propellant.
The left-hand motor of the RSRM 89 set will be tested in January of 2007,
according to Jody Singer, manager of the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor
Project, part of the Space Shuttle Propulsion Office.
Test data will be analyzed and the results for each objective provided in a
final report. Following the test, the motor's metal casings and its nozzle
components will be refurbished for reuse.
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info