Oct 25 1984
From The Space Library
MSFC announced that Morton Thiokol's Wasatch Division near Brigham City, Utah; had successfully static-fired a new, lightweight version of the Space Shuttle's solid-fuel rocket booster at its northern Utah facility. Preliminary results from the two-minute firing indicated that all objectives were met and that the system operated as expected. The case of the new motor was made from a composite material of plastic reinforced with graphite fibers wound into a cylinder. Each of these filament-wound cases weighed about 30,000 pounds less than the current steel case that made up most of the length of the Space Shuttle's solid-fuel rocket booster. Use of the lighter cases could increase the Space Shuttle payload carrying capacity about 4,600 pounds.
Two more of the filament-wound booster motors would be test fired by Motron Thiokol in the spring and summer of 1985. Also in the spring of 1985, flight motor segments containing filament-wound cylinders would be shipped to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, for use by NASA and the U.S. Air Force in the first Space Shuttle launch from Vandenberg planned for October 1985.
The test was conducted under the direction of MSFC, Huntsville, Ala. (MSFC Release 84-86; Marshall Star, Oct 31/84, 1)
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