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  SLS: QM-2 solid rocket motor qualification test

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Author Topic:   SLS: QM-2 solid rocket motor qualification test
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 50516
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 06-27-2016 07:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Orbital ATK release
Orbital ATK Prepares to Test World's Largest Solid Rocket Motor

Orbital ATK will conduct the final qualification test for NASA's Space Launch System boosters on June 28, 2016 at its Promontory, Utah facility. This test, QM-2, is the second and final qualification test of the company's five-segment solid rocket motor that will launch SLS and the Orion crew capsule.

In preparation for the test, which will assess the motor's performance in cold conditions, the booster has been chilling down to 40 degrees Fahrenheit since the first week of May. Last year's test, QM-1, verified the motor's performance at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Data provided from testing the booster at temperature extremes that may be experienced on the launch pad will help engineers understand how the propellant reacts in various conditions.

During the 2-minute firing, the 154-foot-long booster will be secured in a horizontal position and will produce 3.6 million pounds of maximum thrust. NASA and Orbital ATK will take measurements from more than 530 data channels to check the motor's performance.

After a successful QM-2 test, the motor will be qualified for flight. Two boosters will help propel the Space Launch System, which is scheduled for its first test flight in 2018. SLS, along with NASA's Orion spacecraft, provides the heavy lift capability needed to take humans and cargo to multiple destinations across our solar system.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 50516
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 06-28-2016 07:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
collectSPACE
NASA test fires rocket booster made from space shuttle-flown parts

NASA's past and future came together in Utah on Tuesday (June 28) for the test fire of the world's largest human-rated solid rocket motor.

The space agency and its contractor, Orbital ATK, ignited the booster — which was assembled in part out of casings that had previously launched on 40 space shuttle missions — in a ground test supporting the development of NASA's next heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 50516
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-12-2016 12:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Orbital ATK release
Orbital ATK and NASA Report Outcomes from Qualification Motor (QM-2) Test

Rocket Motor Test Demonstrates Progress on NASA's Space Launch System

NASA and Orbital ATK, a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, announced today that data gathered and reviewed to date from the second five-segment qualification motor (QM-2) test show the solid rocket motor manufactured by Orbital ATK performed as designed. The test performed on June 28 provides vital data undergoing further analysis leading to qualification of the booster that will provide liftoff and ascent thrust for NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System, or SLS.

"Following more than a month of data analysis, we can certainly confirm the QM-2 ground test was a remarkable success," said Charlie Precourt, Vice President and General Manager of Orbital ATK's Propulsion Systems Division, and four-time space shuttle astronaut. "This successful test, along with numerous milestones being achieved across the program, shows SLS is on track to preserve and ensure our nation's leadership in space exploration."

NASA's SLS will launch its first mission with an uncrewed Orion crew capsule, Exploration Mission-1, in 2018. The first crewed launch of the SLS vehicle and Orion spacecraft on Exploration Mission-2 will take humans farther into space than ever before — including possible crewed missions to an asteroid or the vicinity of the Moon, and eventually to Mars. SLS also opens new possibilities for science missions without crew, including robotic expeditions to places like Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

The QM-2 static test had 82 qualification objectives and was supported by more than 530 instrumentation channels. A key objective of QM-2 was to test the solid rocket motor performance at its low temperature range (approximately 40 degrees F). Current data show the nozzle performed as expected, and ballistics performance parameters met requirements. Additionally, the thrust vector control and avionics systems provided accurate command and control of the motor nozzle position.

Orbital ATK's new five-segment boosters for SLS leverage the flight-proven space shuttle's four-segment design, while implementing technological and performance upgrades including: the addition of a fifth motor segment to provide increased power, an advanced avionics system, a more environmentally friendly motor insulation design, a modern flight termination system, and more efficient and improved processing techniques. These changes enable the new boosters to meet higher performance requirements while increasing reliability and lowering manufacturing costs.

This test, which was the final full-scale motor qualification test before flight in 2018, followed a robust three-test development phase (DM-1, DM-2 and DM-3) that helped substantiate motor design, and the first qualification test, QM-1, that tested the motor at its high temperature range (approximately 90 degrees F). The QM-2 ground test fully completed demonstration of the motor's readiness for flight.

"Ground tests are very important – we strongly believe in testing before flight to ensure we learn all we can on the ground prior to committing to a flight mission in order to maximize its success," said Precourt. "Now that we have tested our final qualification motor, it will be very exciting to watch the boosters fire in the vertical position for the EM-1 flight!"

The SLS and Orion programs are supported by a network of hundreds of suppliers representing 49 states. Orbital ATK has 29 key SLS booster suppliers across 16 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

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