Author Topic: LIVE: QM-2 SLS Booster Test - June 28, 2016 - Discussion And Updates  (Read 57152 times)

Offline Chris Bergin

Orbital ATK Completes Installation of World’s Largest Solid Rocket Motor for Upcoming Ground Test

NASA’s Second Space Launch System Qualification Motor

Test Scheduled for Late June

Promontory, Utah, 9 May 2016 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, in partnership with NASA, has completed installing the second Space Launch System (SLS) booster qualification motor, QM-2, in a specialized test stand in Utah in preparation for a June 28 static-fire test. QM-2 is the second of two Orbital ATK-developed motors to support qualification of the boosters for NASA’s SLS, which is a heavy-lift rocket designed to enable exciting new deep space exploration missions. The first qualification motor, QM-1, completed a successful test last spring.

“Testing before flight is critical to ensure reliability and safety when launching humans into space,” said Charlie Precourt, Vice President and General Manager of Orbital ATK’s Propulsion Systems Division. “This ground test is an important step in qualifying NASA’s new five-segment solid rocket motor, the largest solid rocket motor ever built for flight, for planned SLS missions to deep space.”

While last year’s QM-1 test validated motor performance at the upper end of the propellant temperature range, Orbital ATK personnel are cooling QM-2 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit to test its lower temperature capabilities against the required temperature range. Lying horizontally in the test stand, the motor is 154 feet in length and 12 feet in diameter. When fired, QM-2 will produce 3.6 million pounds of maximum thrust.

Orbital ATK and NASA will use measurements from more than 530 data channels to evaluate motor performance, acoustics, motor vibrations, nozzle modifications, insulation upgrades, Booster Separation Motor structural dynamic response and nozzle vectoring parameters. The full-scale motor test will further improve the safety, technology and knowledge of solid rocket motors.

The SLS five-segment motor is based on the design heritage of the flight-proven solid rocket boosters used on NASA’s Space Shuttle and incorporates new technologies and updated materials.

“Throughout the Space Shuttle Program, we regularly monitored and enhanced our motor design, and we have made further modifications to our booster for NASA’s new SLS,” said Precourt, a four-time space shuttle astronaut and former chief of the astronaut office. “Having personally experienced the power of these motors and been a part of these modifications, I can attest to their reliability.”

The SLS, along with NASA’s Orion spacecraft, provides a flexible deep space exploration platform to take humans and cargo to multiple destinations across our solar system. Orion successfully experienced its first flight test in December 2014, orbiting twice around the Earth and flying as far away as 3,600 miles – more than 15 times farther than the International Space Station and farther than a human spaceflight vehicle has traveled in 40 years.

The first test flight of SLS and Orion together, called Exploration Mission-1, is scheduled for 2018. EM-1 will use two of Orbital ATK’s five-segment solid rocket boosters.

A network of hundreds of suppliers representing 49 states supports the SLS and Orion programs. Orbital ATK has 29 key SLS booster suppliers across 16 states including Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

Recent SLS and Orion milestones include:

·       In April, Orbital ATK completed casting propellant into the first of ten segments (the left-hand aft) for the 2018 EM-1 launch

·       The EM-1 Orion crew module is about to undergo pressure testing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, and the EM-1 service module structure is now in Bremen, Germany, for integration operations

·       Launch Abort Motor (for Orion Launch Abort System)

o  Motor Structural Qualification Test completed in January

o  Case Structural Qualification Test completed in March

o  Structural Test Article Inert Casting completed in March

·       In March, Aerojet Rocketdyne and NASA test-fired the first RS-25 flight engine, E2059, for 500 seconds at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi

·       Last year, the RS-25 program completed the first development engine series of tests at NASA Stennis to confirm the upgraded engines can withstand the demanding operating conditions of SLS

·       Boeing is welding flight hardware for the massive Space Launch System core stages at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and collaborating with NASA on testing of the SLS avionics – guidance and control systems – at NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
« Last Edit: 05/09/2016 09:27 pm by jacqmans »
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Online Bubbinski

I've booked my time off from work, will be at Promontory on 6/28
I'll even excitedly look forward to "flags and footprints" and suborbital missions. Just fly...somewhere.

Online catdlr

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May 18, 2016
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-055
NASA Invites Media, Social Media to June Deep Space Rocket Booster Test
Test version of the booster for NASA's Space Launch System
A test version of the booster for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, will fire up for the second of two qualification ground tests June 28 at prime contractor Orbital ATK's test facility in Promontory, Utah. The test will provide NASA with critical data to support booster qualification for flight. When completed, two five-segment boosters and four RS-25 main engines will power the world's most powerful rocket, with the Orion spacecraft atop, to achieve human exploration to deep-space destinations, including our journey to Mars.
Credits: Orbital ATK
Media and social media followers are invited to watch as NASA tests the largest, most powerful booster in the world for the agency's new deep space rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), on June 28 at Orbital ATK Aerospace System's test facility in Promontory, Utah. SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft will launch astronauts on missions to explore multiple destinations on the journey to Mars.

 
A test version of the booster for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, will fire up for the second of two qualification ground tests June 28 at prime contractor Orbital ATK's test facility in Promontory, Utah. The test will provide NASA with critical data to support booster qualification for flight. When completed, two five-segment boosters and four RS-25 main engines will power the world's most powerful rocket, with the Orion spacecraft atop, to achieve human exploration to deep-space destinations, including our journey to Mars.

Credits: Orbital ATK

NASA social media followers can apply for credentials to attend the booster test firing as part of a NASA Social event. A maximum of 45 participants will be selected to attend events on June 27, which include tours of the Orbital ATK facilities and opportunities for interviews with NASA and Orbital ATK officials. Participants also will have the opportunity to view, and feel, the powerful test firing on June 28.

Social media followers can apply to attend the event at:

http://www.nasa.gov/social/qm2_social

Registration is for U.S. citizens only and closes Monday, May 23. All social media accreditation applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Details and rules for social media accreditation also are listed on the website.

Members of the U.S. media interested in covering the June 27 events and June 28 test can request credentials by contacting Orbital ATK's Kay Anderson at 435-230-2787 or [email protected].

This is the second two-minute, full-duration qualification test for the booster, and will provide NASA with critical data to support booster qualification for flight. It also will be the last time the booster is fired in a test environment before the first flight of SLS and Orion in 2018.

During the test, 82 qualification test objectives will be measured through more than 530 instrumentation channels on the booster at a target initial temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit – the colder end of its accepted propellant temperature range.

The first, full-scale booster qualification test was successfully completed in March 2015 and demonstrated acceptable performance of the booster design at 90 degrees Fahrenheit -- the highest end of the booster’s accepted propellant temperature range. Testing at the thermal extremes experienced by the booster on the launch pad is important to understanding the effects of temperature on the performance of the propellant.

Two five-segment solid rocket boosters and four RS-25 main engines will power the SLS. Solid rocket boosters operate in parallel with the main engines for the first two minutes of flight, providing more than 75 percent of the thrust needed for the rocket to overcome Earth’s gravitational pull.

The SLS Block I configuration will have a minimum 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capability and be powered by twin boosters and four RS-25 engines. The next planned upgrade of SLS, Block 1B, would use a more powerful exploration upper stage for more ambitious missions with a 105-metric-ton (115-ton) lift capacity. Block 2 will add a pair of more powerful boosters to provide a 130-metric-ton (143-ton) lift capacity. In each configuration, SLS will continue to use the same core stage and four RS-25 engines.

For more information about SLS, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/sls

-end-


Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

Offline Chris Bergin

New promo vid:

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Offline rayleighscatter

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From NASA:
Quote
SLS Booster 'Chills Out' Ahead of Super-Hot Ground Test

The Old Farmer's Almanac is predicting a hotter-than-normal summer for Utah, but at Orbital ATK's test facility in Promontory, crews are bundling up to chill down the booster for the world's most powerful rocket, NASA's Space Launch System.

The booster is being cooled to approximately 40 degrees Fahrenheit ahead of its second qualification ground test June 28. Testing at the thermal extremes experienced by the booster on the launch pad is important to understanding the effects of temperature on the performance of how the propellant burns. Data and analysis from past human-rated space programs have set the temperature limits for boosters between 40 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The booster was heated to 90 degrees Fahrenheit for the first successful booster qualification test in March 2015.
An Orbital ATK technician checks the temperature of a full-scale, test version booster for NASA's new rocket
An Orbital ATK technician checks the temperature of a full-scale, test version booster for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System. It will take more than a month to reach the booster's cold temperature target of 40 degrees Fahrenheit inside the test facility. Sensors inside and outside the booster measure the propellant temperature, and analytical models also predict the time it takes for the booster to be conditioned to approximately 40 degrees.
Credits: Orbital ATK
View Larger Image

"In the winter or summer, you expect your car to start – regardless of what the temperature is outside," said Mat Bevill, deputy chief engineer in the SLS Boosters Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the SLS program is managed for the agency. "That car had to be tested to ensure it performed as it was designed to do, even in wide temperature ranges. That's pretty much what we're doing -- except with a huge rocket booster."

The massive size of the booster means it will take more than a month to reach the cold temperature target for the booster inside the test stand. Three large air-conditioning units – similar to those used for outdoor ice skating rinks – have been placed around the test facility, and are continually pumping air at 25 degrees Fahrenheit into the test stand house surrounding the booster. Sensors inside and outside the booster measure the propellant temperature, and analytical models predict the time it takes for the booster to be conditioned to 40 degrees.

"Propellant temperature shouldn't be mistaken for the temperature of the booster when it's fired," Bevill added. "It may be conditioned to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but once it fires, it is extremely hot – about 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot enough to boil steel."

The day of the static fire, the test stand house will be rolled out of the way. "Cold conditioning in the summer isn't exactly optimal, but that's just one of the challenges with staying on schedule. We have to keep marching forward to be ready for flight," Bevill said. "But just like it takes a long time to cool the booster, it also takes a long time for it to warm back up. Testing early in the morning before it gets too hot helps, and we chill to a few degrees cooler than the target of 40 degrees to account for the summer heat on test day."

The two-minute, full-duration firing of the 177-foot booster will be the last full-scale test to support qualification of the hardware for the first two flights of SLS. Some 82 design objectives will be measured through more than 530 instrumentation channels on the booster. Along with measuring the ballistic performance at the lower end of the booster’s accepted propellant temperature range, the test also integrates SLS flight-like command and control for motor ignition and nozzle steering.

After this test, the next time a SLS booster will be fired up will be on the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Two five-segment solid rocket boosters, along with four RS-25 engines, will propel SLS with the Orion spacecraft on its first mission in 2018.

"We’re working with Orbital ATK as they get ready to fire this booster in June," said Bruce Tiller, deputy manager of the SLS Boosters Office at Marshall. "In conjunction with testing, booster flight hardware is currently in production. NASA is preparing for the first flight of SLS, and each of these programmatic milestones provide crucial data to enable human missions to deep-space destinations, including Mars."

While the boosters for the space shuttle had four booster segments, the SLS boosters will have five segments. The added booster segment for SLS contains more solid propellant that allows SLS to lift more weight and reach a higher altitude before the boosters separate from the core stage within the first two minutes of flight. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall with a diameter of 27.6 feet, will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle’s RS-25 engines.

The initial SLS configuration will have a minimum 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capability. The next planned upgrade of SLS will use a powerful exploration upper stage for more ambitious missions with a 105-metric-ton (115-ton) lift capacity. A later configuration will replace the five-segment solid rocket boosters with a pair of advanced solid or liquid propellant boosters to provide a 130-metric-ton (143-ton) lift capacity. In each configuration, SLS will continue to use the same core stage and four RS-25 engines.

Online catdlr

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Get Ready for the Final, Full-Scale SLS Booster Test

NASA's Marshall Center

Published on Jun 22, 2016
The largest, most powerful rocket booster built for flight will fire up for a major ground test June 28 at Orbital ATK's test facilities in Promontory, Utah. This is the last, full-scale qualification test for the booster before the first, uncrewed flight of NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, with the Orion spacecraft in 2018.







Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

Online catdlr

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June 23, 2016
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-074

NASA to Discuss, Broadcast Booster Test for Space Launch System Rocket Space Launch System rocket booster test

The booster for the world's most powerful rocket, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), which will power the agency’s astronauts on the journey to Mars, will fire up for a major ground test at 10:05 a.m. EDT (8:05 a.m. MDT) Tuesday, June 28, at Orbital ATK Propulsion Systems’ test facilities in Promontory, Utah.

This is the last time the booster will be fired in a test environment before the first test flight of SLS with NASA's Orion spacecraft, known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), in late 2018.

NASA Television will air a NASA Social event that provides the latest updates and background on SLS and Exploration Mission-1 at 3:30 p.m. Monday, June 27, and will air live coverage of the booster test June 28 beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Following the test, NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. to discuss initial assessment of the booster firing. The teleconference participants will be:

Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington Charlie Precourt, vice president and general manager of Orbital ATK's Propulsion Systems Division in Promontory, Utah Alex Priskos, manager of the NASA SLS Boosters Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama

To participate in the media teleconference, reporters must contact NASA public affairs officer Cheryl Warner at 202-358-1100, or [email protected] and provide their media affiliation no later than 2 p.m. June 27.

This is the second two-minute, full-duration qualification ground test for the booster. It will provide NASA with critical data to support booster qualification for flight and test the motor at the colder end of its accepted propellant temperature range -- a targeted 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

The first, full-scale booster qualification test was successfully completed in March 2015 and demonstrated acceptable performance of the booster design at 90 degrees Fahrenheit -- the highest end of the booster’s accepted propellant temperature range. Testing at the thermal extremes experienced by the booster on the launch pad is important to understanding the effects of temperature on the ballistic performance of the propellant.

The teleconference audio will stream live at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

Check out the full NASA TV schedule and video streaming information at:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more information on SLS, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/sls

-end-
Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

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Space Launch System Booster Test: Behind the Scenes

 
NASA's Marshall Center

Published on Jun 24, 2016
Get a sneak peek behind the scenes of how engineers and technicians at Orbital ATK in Promontory, Utah, are coming together to test the most powerful booster for NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System. SLS will make missions possible to an asteroid and the journey to Mars.



Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

Offline Chris Bergin

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Offline Targeteer

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https://www.facebook.com/OrbitalATK/photos/a.10150294298150479.375646.214613410478/10154153724715479/?type=3&theater

The house is rolling back off of @NASA's #SLS booster. Counting down to #QM2 ignition later this morning. #SLSFiredUp #NASASocial
Best quote heard during an inspection, "I was unaware that I was the only one who was aware."

Offline Chris Bergin


‏@OrbitalATK
The sun is starting to rise over the @NASA_SLS booster. Less than 3 hours until ignition!
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Offline MATTBLAK

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Darn it - that's the middle of the night for me. I hope it goes well for them.
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Offline jacqmans

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The Space Launch System’s booster is seen a few hours ahead of the second and final qualification motor (QM-2) test, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, at Orbital ATK Propulsion Systems test facilities in Promontory, Utah. During the Space Launch System flight the boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the thrust needed to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth, the first step on NASA’s Journey to Mars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Jacques :-)

Offline Chris Bergin

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Online Bubbinski

I'm at the QM-2 test. Delay of a few minutes from 8:05 Mountain.

Some pics I took of the booster:
« Last Edit: 06/28/2016 01:26 pm by Bubbinski »
I'll even excitedly look forward to "flags and footprints" and suborbital missions. Just fly...somewhere.

Offline Chris Bergin

Problem?
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Offline jacqmans

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Jacques :-)

Offline Chris Bergin

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Offline DaveS

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Problem?
The main computer sequencer crashed earlier and they're still working on recovering from that.
"For Sardines, space is no problem!"
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"We're rolling in the wrong direction but for the right reasons"
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Offline Chris Bergin

Doesn't sound good.
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