Test Of 7+ Year-Old SRB Engine Also Helps Ares Program
NASA's Space Shuttle Program on Thursday successfully conducted
a test firing of a space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor in
Utah. The flight support motor, or FSM-15, burned for approximately
123 seconds, the same time each reusable solid rocket motor burns
during an actual space shuttle launch.
The test evaluated possible performance changes as shuttle
motors age. Space shuttle solid rocket motors are certified for
flight for five years from their date of manufacture.
The more than seven-year-old, four-segment motor tested Thursday
is the oldest ever fired... and NASA says the results substantiated
the certification that was established by NASA at the beginning of
the shuttle program.
In addition to its significance to the waning 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 exploration vehicle on missions to the moon.
Ares I test objectives included performance data on a new nozzle
design that would increase robustness and measurement of
environmental changes caused by motor pressure and sound. 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, UT -- a unit of Alliant Techsystems
Inc. -- which manufactures space shuttle solid rocket motors.
"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, AL. "It also allows us to gather
information on how motors with different ages perform."
Preliminary indications are that all test objectives were met.
After final test data are analyzed, results for each objective will
be published in a NASA report.
The Reusable Solid Rocket Booster Project Office at the Marshall
Center managed the test.
A space shuttle launch requires the power of two reusable solid
rocket booster motors to lift the 4.5-million-pound shuttle
vehicle. Each solid rocket booster burns for approximately 123
seconds and generates an average thrust of 2.6 million pounds. In
this latest test, the motor generated 3.3 million pounds maximum
thrust for two minutes.