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  SLS: Flight Support Booster-1 static test

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Author Topic:   SLS: Flight Support Booster-1 static test
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 50516
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-02-2020 11:21 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Northrop Grumman release
Flight Support Booster-1 (FSB-1) Static Test

The largest solid rocket motor ever built for flight will help launch NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) on deep space exploration missions. SLS is an advanced, heavy-lift launch vehicle that provides an entirely new capability for science and human exploration beyond Earth's orbit.

SLS is designed to be flexible and evolvable to meet a variety of crew and cargo mission needs. SLS utilizes Northrop Grumman's five-segment rocket boosters to propel the rocket off of the launch pad to escape Earth's gravity and for the first two minutes of flight.

The twin rocket boosters will provide more than 75% of initial thrust to propel SLS into space. The FSB-1 test motor will fire for just over two minutes, and will qualify new suppliers of propellant ingredients.

  • The FSB-1 motor is 154 feet in length and 12 feet in diameter

  • The nozzle is 12.7 feet in diameter.

  • The test will have more than 302 channels of data recorded.

  • The motor weighs 1.6 million pounds and will produce 3.6 million pounds max thrust.
Primary Objective

Qualify Additional Suppliers of Propellant Ingredients

  • Evaluate all ballistic parameters and performance
    • Ignition interval
    • Pressure build-up rate
    • Thrust build-up rate
    • Performance tolerances and limits
    • Maximum oscillatory energy allowable
    • Bore pressure drop against the baseline database to verify new propellant mate- rials will perform as expected in a full scale motor
Secondary Objectives
  • Perform replacement segment igniter lot acceptance test

  • Evaluate nozzle throat plug debris against vehicle debris requirements

  • Target propellant mean bulk temperature of 60 +10/-0 deg F

  • Demonstrate nozzle forward exit cone housing that was incorporated on Artemis II (post demonstration objective)

  • Measure nozzle load response to sound suppression water in the nozzle at ignition

Robert Pearlman
Editor

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

posted 09-02-2020 11:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Northrop Grumman release

Robert Pearlman
Editor

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

posted 09-02-2020 11:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA live video
On Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT), we will test the solid rocket boosters for our Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever built. This full-scale booster test will take place at the Northrop Grumman facilities in Promontory, Utah, and help engineers evaluate improvements and new materials in the boosters for deep space missions beyond Artemis III.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

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

posted 09-02-2020 04:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA release
NASA Conducts SLS Booster Test for Future Artemis Missions

As NASA begins assembling the boosters for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will power the first Artemis mission to the Moon, teams in Utah are evaluating materials and processes to improve rocket boosters for use on missions after Artemis III.

NASA completed a full-scale booster test for NASA's Space Launch System rocket in Promontory, Utah, on Sept. 2. NASA and Northrop Grumman, the SLS booster lead contractor, will use data from the test to evaluate the motor's performance using potential new materials and processes that can be incorporated into future boosters. NASA has a contract with Northrop Grumman to build boosters for future rocket flights.

"Landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon is just the beginning of NASA's Artemis Program," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "The SLS flight support booster firing is a crucial part of sustaining missions to the Moon. NASA's goal is to take what we learn living and working on the Moon and use it to send humans on the first missions to Mars."

For a little over two minutes — the same amount of time that the boosters power the SLS rocket during liftoff and flight for each Artemis mission — the five-segment flight support booster fired in the Utah desert, producing more than 3 million pounds of thrust.

NASA and Northrop Grumman have previously completed three development motor tests and two qualification motor tests. Today's test, called Flight Support Booster-1 (FSB-1), builds on prior tests with the introduction of propellant ingredients from new suppliers for boosters on SLS rockets to support flights after Artemis III.

"NASA is simultaneously making progress on assembling and manufacturing the solid rocket boosters for the first three Artemis missions and looking ahead toward missions beyond the initial Moon landing," said John Honeycutt, the SLS Program Manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "Today marks the first flight support booster test to confirm the rocket motor's performance using potential new materials for Artemis IV and beyond."

The SLS boosters are the largest, most powerful boosters ever built for flight. The flight support booster used in the test is the same size and has the same power as the flight version of a five-segment solid rocket booster used for NASA's Artemis missions. The Artemis I boosters are currently being prepared for launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"This flight support booster test is the first motor firing NASA and Northrop Grumman have completed since qualifying the booster design for the Space Launch System rocket," said Bruce Tiller, SLS Boosters Office Manager at Marshall. "Full-scale booster tests are rare, so NASA tries to test multiple objectives at one time so we are highly confident that any changes we make to the boosters will still enable them to perform as expected on launch day."

Robert Pearlman
Editor

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

posted 09-02-2020 05:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Northrop Grumman release
Northrop Grumman Successfully Tests NASA's Space Launch System Booster for Artemis Missions

NASA and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) have successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket motor, known as Flight Support Booster (FSB-1), in Promontory.

Above: NASA and Northrop Grumman successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket motor, known as Flight Support Booster (FSB-1), in Promontory, Utah, on Sep. 2. During the test, the 154-foot-long, five-segment rocket motor fired for just over two minutes, producing 3.6 million pounds of thrust.

During the test, the 154-foot-long, five-segment rocket motor fired for just over two minutes, producing 3.6 million pounds of thrust. Two SLS boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the initial thrust for an SLS launch.

"NASA's Artemis missions, powered by Northrop Grumman boosters, will push the boundaries of what is possible for human exploration in space," said Charlie Precourt, vice president, propulsion systems, Northrop Grumman. "We have built, qualified and delivered flight hardware for Artemis I, and we are committed to the continuous improvement and testing of our products to provide the best solid propulsion to fuel NASA's missions to the moon and beyond."

The company developed this motor based on the flight-proven design of the space shuttle boosters with enhanced technologies and updated materials to support NASA's most powerful rocket to date. The new five-segment booster configuration provides 20 percent greater average thrust than the shuttle boosters, aiding in the SLS rocket's ability to deliver greater mass and volume by generating greater departure energy than any existing launch vehicle.

Prior to this test, NASA and Northrop Grumman conducted a series of ground tests beginning in 2010 to satisfy requirements for certification of the booster. FSB-1 evaluated ballistic parameters and performance of propellant materials from new sources, an upgrade to enable the booster to meet the high performance demands of SLS.

Northrop Grumman has delivered the first set of rocket motor segments for Artemis I boosters. The second set of motors for the Artemis II boosters are nearly complete, and rocket motor segments for Artemis III are in production. Materials evaluated in today's test could be used in missions following Artemis III.

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