Please use this topic to discuss NASA's and ATK's Space Launch System (SLS) QM-2 booster test on June 28, 2016.
JBoe Member
Posts: 993 From: Edgewater, MD Registered: Oct 2012
posted 09-17-2016 03:09 PM
I found this article on Business Insider that shows in slow motion the test firing with the engine plug not removed.
Will this become customary in future test firings? Will they leave to plug inside when the booster rollout to the pad and has this (leaving the plug inside) occurred in the shuttle program?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50516 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-17-2016 03:14 PM
From NASA's description of the video:
This video shows the booster's nozzle plug intentionally breaking apart. The smoky ring coming off the booster is condensed water vapor created by a pressure difference between the motor gas and normal air.
The nozzle plug is an environmental barrier to prevent heat, dust and moisture from getting inside the booster before it ignites. The plug isn't always part of a static test but was included on this one due to changes made to the hardware. The foam on the plug is denser than previous NASA launch vehicles, as the engines are now in the same plane as the boosters.
A numbered grid was placed on the exterior of the plug before the test so the pieces retrieved could support plug breakup assessment and reconstruction. Along with video, collecting the pieces helps determine the size and speed of them when they break apart. Nozzle plug pieces were found as far as 1,500 to 2,000 feet away from the booster.
This is the last full-scale qualification test for the booster before the first, uncrewed flight of SLS with the Orion spacecraft in 2018.
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.
Can someone explain how this was done? Was the assembly building refrigerated? How was the booster maintained at 40F after being placed in the testing position but prior to actual firing? Is the horizontal booster externally loaded during the test to simulate flight loading?
...three giant air conditioning units — the same kind used to cool ice rinks — are keeping the booster's test stand housing temperature at a frigid 25 degrees. NASA says it took more than a month to get the booster down to 40 degrees, and tomororw, when the stand is rolled back from the booster, the propellant temperature will slowly begin to rise.
posted 06-27-2016 08:00 AM
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