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Last week, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) test-fired a five-segment,
solid-fueled rocket in the Utah
desert. During the two-minute demonstration, the 154-ft. long booster produced 22
million horsepower, generated 3.6 million pounds of thrust, and consumed 1.4 million
pounds of solid propellant. "Our engineers in the back rooms are ecstatic", exclaimed
Charles Precourt, ATK's vice president and general
manager of space launch systems. "The preliminary indications look wonderful."
NASA engineers were excited, too. ATK's five-segment, solid
rocket booster (SRB) is an important part of National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) plans to replace its fleet of aging space shuttles, travel
to the International Space Station (ISS), and someday return to the moon. "After
witnessing what we just saw, it's pretty easy to become speechless," said Alex Priskos,
first stage manager for Ares projects at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Alabama. "We are very, very pleased".
The ground-shaking demonstration that Precourt and Priskos
praised was designed to provide project managers with data about engine
vibration and oscillation. The next step in the Aries 1 program will occur at
NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida, where an Ares 1-X rocket is
scheduled for launch around October 31.
Thanks to Joby Minor, a wonderful photographer who works for NASA in
Huntsville, CR4 has permission to bring you these images of last week's Ares 1
five-segment solid rocket motor test. (All photos courtesy of Joby Minor – copyright
2009). Here are a few.
Image 3
Image 4
Image 10
Image 34
Image 41
Would you like to see all of the images? Then click here to visit the complete album
on CR4_News, our
Facebook page.
Note: You don't have to belong to Facebook to view these extraordinary
photographs. But if you are a member, we invite you to become a fan of CR4_News there. Just click the "Become
a Fan" link. It's that simple.
Additional Reading:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0909/10ares1/
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