| SPACE TRAVEL | SPACE DAILY | SPACE WAR | TERRA DAILY | MARS DAILY | SPACE MART | GPS DAILY | ENERGY DAILY |
 |
Promontory - Jan 24, 2003 An insulation design change that will further enhance the safety of the Space Shuttle's Solid Rocket Motor nozzle is set for its final certification test on a static firing of a full-scale flight support motor Thursday, Jan. 23, at a Utah test facility. Results from the test - to be conducted at the Promontory, Utah, facilities of ATK Thiokol Propulsion, an Alliant Techsystems Inc., company -- will be used to qualify a new insulation design on the motor's nozzle to case. The new design will improve flight safety and help reduce costs on the motor, according to Jody Singer, project manager of the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Project Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Static -- or stationary - firings of flight support motors are part of Shuttle's ongoing verification of components, materials and manufacturing processes required by the Space Shuttle program. Flight support motors are tested annually to evaluate, validate and qualify any proposed upgrades or changes to the motor. The two-minute test duration is the same length of time that the motors perform during Shuttle flights. On this motor, there are 97 objectives and a total of 459 instrumentation channels being tested. There are 10 principal objectives for the test of Flight Support Motor-10. "Full-scale static testing is a key element in our program," said Singer. "The rule is: Everything we fly, we static test first." The test will be conducted in the T-24 bay of the Thiokol test facility, north of Salt Lake City. Following the test, the data will be analyzed and the results for each objective provided in a final report. The metal case segments and nozzle components will be refurbished for reuse. At 126 feet (38.4 meters) long and 12 feet (3.6 meters) in diameter, the Shuttle's Reusable Solid Rocket Motor is the largest solid rocket motor ever flown and the first designed for reuse. During its two-minute burn at liftoff, each motor generates an average thrust of 2.6 million pounds (1.2 million kilograms). Marshall Space Flight Center has the responsibility for research, technology maturation, design, development, and integration for space transportation and propulsion systems. This includes both the reusable space transportation systems for Earth-to-orbit applications, as well as vehicles for orbital transfer and deep-space transportation. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
Shuttle Mission Will Focus On Fundamental Biology Research
Moffett Field - Jan 15, 2003Understanding how the body adapts to space flight is the goal of four fundamental biology experiments set to fly on this month's space shuttle mission. The 16-day flight is dedicated to investigating human physiology and other areas of research beneficial to people on Earth.
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
