In a spectacle of flame, smoke and sandy dust, NASA today successfully conducted its first ground test of the new Ares I moon rocket motor.
AP reports that 1 million pounds of solid propellant were ignited "in a split second." For more than two minutes flames roared out of the 154-foot-long first stage at ATK Space Systems in Promontory, Utah.
In a press release, ATK said afterward that the motor "performed as designed," producing 3.6 million pounds of thrust.
If all goes according to NASA's current plans, the Ares will carry U.S. astronauts back to the moon. The first stage will boost the 321-foot-long Orion spacecraft and its crew 36 miles into space in about two minutes before falling away. The second-stage engine would then take over.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/.a/6a00d83451b46269e20120a5b8944a
970c-pi
The five-segment booster is a variation of the four-segment rocket that has carried the space shuttle aloft. NASA is planning an Oct. 31 flight test of the Ares I-X, including a simulated crew module.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/.a/6a00d83451b46269e20120a5621f78970b-pi
(Associated Press photos by Colin Braley.)
AP reports that 1 million pounds of solid propellant were ignited "in a split second." For more than two minutes flames roared out of the 154-foot-long first stage at ATK Space Systems in Promontory, Utah.
In a press release, ATK said afterward that the motor "performed as designed," producing 3.6 million pounds of thrust.
If all goes according to NASA's current plans, the Ares will carry U.S. astronauts back to the moon. The first stage will boost the 321-foot-long Orion spacecraft and its crew 36 miles into space in about two minutes before falling away. The second-stage engine would then take over.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/.a/6a00d83451b46269e20120a5b8944a
970c-pi
The five-segment booster is a variation of the four-segment rocket that has carried the space shuttle aloft. NASA is planning an Oct. 31 flight test of the Ares I-X, including a simulated crew module.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/.a/6a00d83451b46269e20120a5621f78970b-pi
(Associated Press photos by Colin Braley.)
