NASA's Space Shuttle
Program on Thursday successfully conducted a test firing of a space shuttle
reusable solid rocket motor in Utah.
The test firing of Flight Verification Motor 2 evaluated possible
performance changes as motors age. Space shuttle solid rocket motors are
certified for flight for five years from their date of manufacture. At more
than seven years of age, the four-segment motor tested Thursday is the
oldest ever fired. The test further substantiates the certification that
was established by NASA at the beginning of the shuttle program.
The test also provided important information for continued launches of
the shuttle and development of the Ares I rocket, a key component of NASA's
Constellation Program that will launch the Orion crew vehicle on missions
to the moon.
The test measured external sound, or acoustics, to help define
motor-generated external loads for Ares I. This valuable data will assist
in the final design of the launch structure for Ares I rockets by engineers
from NASA and ATK Launch Systems Group of Promontory, Utah.
Preliminary indications are that all test objectives were met. After
final test data are analyzed, results for each objective will be published
later this year.
"This test is an example of the aggressive testing program NASA pursues
to assure flight safety," said David Beaman, manager of the Reusable Solid
Rocket Booster Project office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala. "It also allows us to gather information on how motors
with different ages perform."
The test provided a unique opportunity to compare performance data from
two motors of different ages to validate midlife and full-life
certification of their components. The segments tested Thursday were
originally stacked at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2002 and
returned to Utah in 2004. As a result of this test, engineers will better
understand the effects of aging and exposure to different climates for
extended periods of time.
Each space shuttle launch requires the power of two reusable solid
rocket booster motors to lift the 4.5-million-pound shuttle vehicle. They
burn for approximately 123 seconds and generate an average thrust of 2.6
million pounds. In Thursday's test, the motor generated 3.3 million pounds
maximum thrust for two minutes, which is the same time each reusable solid
rocket motor burns during a space shuttle launch.
The space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor is the largest ever to
fly. It is the only solid rocket motor rated for human flight and the first
designed for reuse. Two motors provide 90 percent of the thrust needed to
launch the space shuttle.
The Reusable Solid Rocket Booster Project Office manages the tests. ATK
Launch Systems Group, a unit of Alliant Techsystems Inc., manufactures
space shuttle solid rocket motors.
Source: NASA
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