Successful Rocket Motor Test Helps NASA's Shuttle and Ares I
- From: baalke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:49:45 -0700
Nov. 1, 2007
June Malone/Melissa Mathews
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1071/1272
june.e.malone@xxxxxxxx, melissa.mathews-1@xxxxxxxx
Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
steven.e.roy@xxxxxxxx
RELEASE: 07-247
SUCCESSFUL ROCKET MOTOR TEST HELPS NASA'S SHUTTLE AND ARES I
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - NASA's Space Shuttle Program successfully fired a
four-segment reusable solid rocket motor Thursday, Nov. 1, at a Utah
test facility. The two-minute test provided important information for
continued launches of the shuttle and for 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 static firing of the full-scale motor was performed at 1 p.m. MDT
at ATK Launch Systems Group, a Promontory, Utah-based unit of Alliant
Techsystems Inc., where the shuttle's solid rocket motors are
manufactured. Preliminary indications are that all test objectives
for shuttle and Ares I were met.
The test evaluation motor, or TEM-13, burned for approximately 123
seconds, the same time each reusable solid rocket motor burns during
a space shuttle launch. The Reusable Solid Rocket Booster Project
Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.,
manages these tests to qualify any proposed changes to the rocket
motor and to determine whether new materials perform as well as those
now in use.
"Full-scale static testing such as this is a key element of the 'test
before you fly' standard and ensures continued quality and
performance," said Jody Singer, deputy manager of the Shuttle
Propulsion Office at Marshall.
One test objective was to demonstrate the thrust vector control
system
operation using only one of two hydraulic power units. The vector
control, part of the flight control system, directs the thrust of the
two solid rocket booster nozzles to control shuttle attitude and
trajectory during liftoff and ascent. During a shuttle launch, both
hydraulic power units run and provide backup power to thrust vector
control actuators. The test with only one hydraulic power unit will
validate the system's redundancy capability and operating performance
data.
Another test objective was to measure the external sound or acoustics
created when the motor ignites. More than 25 microphones were located
near the motor to record the data from the firing. This information
will be used to predict the motor's acoustic effects and aid in the
final design of the launch structure for Ares I.
After final test data are analyzed, NASA will publish results for
each
objective in a report available later this year.
For more information about the Space Shuttle Program, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
Through the Constellation Program, NASA is working to send astronauts
to the moon, where they will set up a lunar outpost to prepare for
possible future journeys to Mars and other destinations. The crewed
launch of the Orion spacecraft aboard an Ares I rocket is set for no
later than 2015. Humans will return to the moon by 2020. For more
information about Constellation, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/constellation
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