NASA Space Shuttle Motor Test Successful
Posted on: Friday, 11 June 2004, 06:00 CDT
NASA's space shuttle program successfully fired a a reusable rocket motor in Utah, testing safety and performance upgrades to the engine.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Space Shuttle Propulsion Office said the modifications being made to the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor -- the largest, reusable rocket motor ever flown -- will increase the propellent's power and decrease the risk of cracks formed in storage or during transportation.
The motor is composed of four segments and is part of the space shuttle's rocket booster. Each motor during liftoff generates an average thrust of 2.6 million pounds.
The space agency is using a slightly different propellant grain that changes the shape of the propellant in the forward segment of the combustion chamber to make the enhancements.
The modification is just one of 76 test objectives in the evaluation of the shuttle's materials, components and manufacturing processes as NASA prepares to return the shuttle fleet to flight-ready status, perhaps as early as next year.
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