Jun 11 1979
From The Space Library
MSFC announced that on June 13 it would begin flight-qualification testing of a Space Shuttle solid-fuel rocket booster at the Thiokol range near Promontory Point, Utah, to demonstrate the production, assembly, and firing cycle for a full series of Shuttle flights. Assembled from four segments, the 35-meter-long motor would first be static-fired to demonstrate "ablative safety factors" of the motor nozzle, which would be gimbaled to simulate control during a launch. Designed to move 8° in any direction, the nozzle would be part of the Shuttle guidance system. Insulation and ablative materials would protect the motor from heat during firing. (MSFC Release 79-54)
The first flight-qualification firing of a Shuttle motor was "quite satisfactory," said George Hardy, manager of the booster project at MSFC. After witnessing the firing in the Utah desert, Hardy said that the amount of thrust developed and the performance of the steering nozzles was "well within specifications." The motor and igniter had been modified as a result of test firings of four development motors during the past two years. Static tests of the flight-configured solid-fuel rocket booster that each Shuttle mission would use in pairs would complete qualification testing. (MSFC Release 79-60)
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