|
|
|
|
|
Successful night test firing of shuttle solid motor ATK NEWS RELEASE Posted: November 16, 2006 Thursday evening, Alliant Techsystems conducted a test firing of a Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM). The test had numerous objectives to obtain and validate performance data on upgrades being analyzed for the future. Among them was to collect nighttime imagery data in support of night launches of the Space Shuttle. The test also collected data that will be used to assist NASA in the development of its next-generation crew launch vehicle, the Ares I. Preliminary results from the test indicate that all test objectives were achieved.
"ATK and NASA are commited to continued testing in order to ensure the safety of the Shuttle and crew," said Ron Dittemore, President of ATK Launch Systems. "We are equally committed to a robust test schedule that supports NASA's development of the new Ares I launch vehicle." This was the first night static firing in the RSRM testing program since 1992. The static firings are a critical component of NASA's safety program. During the static firing, NASA and ATK conducted extensive nighttime imagery tests. Since a night launch poses additional challenges to capturing imagery due to the effects that the bright light from the rocket's thrust has on the cameras, NASA installed 31 cameras on the test range to ensure that they have sufficient imagery. The data will be used to test various techniques and camera settings for nighttime imagery captured in future launches. The test was also used to assist in the development of the Ares I roll control system. It measured the amount of vibration, acoustic and roll-torque experienced by the motor during a launch. This information will provide valuable data to help NASA and ATK determine the appropriate size of the roll control system for the Ares I crew launch vehicle. The new vehicle is an in-line design with the crew capsule and escape tower on top, patterned after the Saturn rockets that helped take the Apollo capsule to the moon. The roll control system is a vital part of Ares I vehicle, keeping it on a stable trajectory during flight. "This is a great example of the true synergy between the Shuttle program and the Ares project," Dittemore added. "Thanks to this teamwork, we are able to collect data and perform analysis early in the development stage of Ares I." ATK is a $3.4-billion advanced weapon and space systems company employing approximately 15,000 people in 22 states.
|
|
|
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
The space shuttle Discovery is hoisted high into the Vehicle Assembly Building and mated with its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters.
Space shuttle Discovery makes an evening move October 31 from its processing hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building for mating with an external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters in preparation for the STS-116 mission.
The objectives of the just-approved final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission are detailed and the anticipated science from the new instruments to be installed are detailed in this briefing from Goddard Space Flight Center.
The crew for the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission will be led by Scott Altman, with pilot Greg C. Johnson, robot arm operator Megan McArthur and spacewalkers Andrew Feustel, Mike Good, John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino. The astronauts meet the press in this news briefing from Johnson Space Center.
The twin STEREO space observatories designed to change the way we view the sun launch from Cape Canaveral aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket.
With launch of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite from space shuttle Discovery in September 1991, a new era in studying Earth's environment from space began. The crew of STS-48 describes the mission in this post-flight film, which includes an beautiful nighttime flyover of the United States.
Astronauts, rodents and jellyfish were the subjects during extensive medical tests performed aboard the first Spacelab Life Sciences mission launched in June 1991 aboard shuttle Columbia. A space laboratory module riding in the payload bay housed the experiment facilities. The crew of STS-40 explain the mission in this post-flight film.
A progress report on development of the Orion crew exploration spacecraft and the Ares launch vehicle is given during this briefing held October 18 at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
Some of the initial pictures and data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter since the craft entered its mapping orbit around the Red Planet are presented in this news briefing held October 16 from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
