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More than 1,000 watch the engineering motor static test Thursday in Utah. (Thiokol)

Update: 01-344

Shuttle motor test Thursday is successful; will help improve safety, reduce costs

Editor’s note: A photograph of the static firing is available online at the NASA Marshall News Web site — http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/

Data looks good on the static test of an engineering test motor for the Space Shuttle’s Reusable Solid Rocket Booster that was fired the full duration of 123.2 seconds Thursday, Nov. 1, at a Utah test facility.

The approximate two-minute test duration is the same length of time the motors perform during Space Shuttle flights.

Results from the test — conducted at the Promontory, Utah, facilities of ATK Thiokol Propulsion, an Alliant Techsystems, Inc., company — will be used to better understand the capabilities and limits on the Shuttle’s Reusable Solid Rocket Motor. 

The test began with ignition at approximately 2 p.m. CST.

“Preliminary data shows everything is nominal,” said Steve Cash, chief engineer for the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Project Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. “The test went smoothly and the initial look at the data indicates all objectives were achieved.”

An open assessment of the test was to be performed Friday. 

An engineering test motor offers the opportunity to spot any flaws, as well as to conduct “push-the-envelope” testing to gauge the components’ ability to meet flight requirements. The test simulates many of the conditions that would be experienced in flight.

The test is part of the Shuttle’s on-going safety program to verify materials and manufacturing processes.  There are 10 principal objectives for the test of Engineering Test Motor–2 (ETM-2).  The Marshall Center requires the static — or stationary — test before new materials or processes are included in motors flown on the Space Shuttle. 

During the next several months, 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.