Successful Rocket Motor Test at ATK Launch Systems an Encouraging Development
Posted on: Sunday, 30 April 2006, 15:00 CDT
By Jeff DeMoss, Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah
Apr. 29--PROMONTORY -- The second successful rocket motor test in seven weeks at ATK Launch Systems was an encouraging sign to astronaut Rick Mastracchio.
"That's what gives us the initial thrust we need to get into space," said Mastracchio, who took his first trip to space in September 2000 to prepare the International Space Station for its first permanent residents. "We only use them for two minutes, but it's a critical two minutes."
The test used a standard four-segment space shuttle solid reusable rocket motor, the same basic model used throughout the history of NASA's shuttle program.
The motor, which burns more than 1 million gallons of fuel in two minutes and delivers 2.6 million pounds of thrust, is held in place by a massive concrete barrier sunk deep into the ground.
ATK usually goes about six months between rocket tests, but Friday's test was designed for different purposes than the one conducted March 9, said Mike Kahn, vice president of space launch systems for ATK.
"Our tests are based on NASA's mission requirements," Kahn said. "It just so happened that these tests were closer together, but they have different purposes. There are a lot of different testing objectives to meet."
On Friday, ATK was testing some next-generation insulation materials, as well as some new materials for the nozzle portion of the rocket.
If the materials perform up to NASA specifications, they will be implemented in the crew launch vehicle, which will replace the space shuttle starting in 2010.
"That motor gets up to over 5,000 degrees inside," Kahn said. "We'll take things apart after the test, compare the insulation to normal insulation and the nozzle to a normal nozzle, and see where we are."
For the test, engineers created some intentional flaws designed to detect potential problems and highlight the advantages of new materials. For Friday's test, grooves were cut into parts of the insulation to allow hot gas to reach the O-rings that sit between the rocket segments.
"In a real flight, the O-rings never see hot gas," Kahn said. "We like to prove how much margin of safety there is on a motor, so we put in features that show how much safer the new material is."
ATK typically delivers a full analysis of its tests to NASA within 120 days.
The company last week received an additional $28.6 million, six-month work order to continue testing and development on the crew launch vehicle, which will take astronauts into space using just one, five-segment rocket motor.
The space shuttle program may be nearing the end of its life cycle, but shuttles could make up to 18 more journeys by 2010, Mastracchio said. The next mission is currently scheduled for July.
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Source: Standard-Examiner
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