Twice as Nice: NASA, Orbital ATK Prepare for Second SLS Booster Ground TestKim Henry MSFC, September 23, 2015...The rear and forward segments have successfully completed all non-destructive evaluation with no defect indications and are currently in final assembly, says Fred Brasfield, Orbital ATK vice president for NASA programs....
I don't see a discussion version of this thread.
According to the article, this is a cold test, but delaying until late Spring brings it into warm weather. Shouldn't this be late Winter with the date picked to be below 40°F?
I don't see a discussion version of this thread. According to the article, this is a cold test, but delaying until late Spring brings it into warm weather. Shouldn't this be late Winter with the date picked to be below 40°F?
Quote from: Roy_H on 10/11/2015 06:15 pmAccording to the article, this is a cold test, but delaying until late Spring brings it into warm weather. Shouldn't this be late Winter with the date picked to be below 40°F?The DM-2 5-seg motor was test fired aug 31 2010. That motor was also conditioned to below 40 deg F.>>> Aggreko’s low temperature chillers were used to execute the DM-2 “cold motor” test...
Orbital ATK and NASA celebrated a highly-successful ground qualification test (QM-1) last spring of the five-segment solid rocket booster motor we are developing for NASA’s Space Launch System—NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket that will take humans farther into space than we’ve ever ventured. Looking for a repeat, Orbital ATK is preparing for a second qualification test (QM-2), scheduled for this summer.While QM-1 tested the rocket motor’s performance at a high temperature, QM-2 will assess the motor’s performance at the colder end of its accepted propellant temperature range. In addition, technicians will install Developmental Flight Instrumentation and collect avionics performance data, and accumulate a vast amount of data that will further support the motor’s capability. A full scale ground test is a unique test bed, and the goal is to gather as much information as possible from this final test to support booster qualification.Additionally, QM-2 will include the four booster separation motors that will be attached to the aft skirt. While the BSMs are not going to be live, we will receive valuable structural dynamics data. After qualification is complete, the boosters will then be ready to proceed toward the first flight of SLS and Orion, known as EM-1, in 2018. The QM-2 test team is making significant progress toward meeting the June 2016 QM-2 test date. All five segments have been successfully cast with propellant at Orbital ATK’s Promontory, Utah, facility, and by early March the segments will all be in the Promontory, Utah, T-97 test bay, ready for integration.“The five segments have effectively completed all non-destructive evaluation with no defect indications and are ready to be incorporated in T-97,” said Fred Brasfield, Orbital ATK Vice President for NASA Programs. “Nozzle installation is also complete – the next major event for the program is the aft exit cone mate around mid-April, followed by initiation of cold conditioning the motor in preparation for test.”Building on three decades of knowledge and experience gained with the space shuttle, the SLS booster is the largest, most powerful solid propellant booster ever built for flight. The booster has been enhanced with the latest technology including a number of design, process and testing improvements for greater performance, safety and affordability.Standing 17 stories tall and burning approximately six tons of propellant every second, each booster generates more maximum thrust than 14 four-engine jumbo commercial airliners. With more payload mass and volume than any existing rocket, as well as more energy to send missions through space, SLS has the capability to send human and robotic explorers to deep space destinations including asteroids and eventually Mars and beyond.
The fifth and final segment for a full-scale test version of NASA's Space Launch System booster is delivered March 2 to Orbital ATK's Promontory, Utah, test site. The aft -- or rear -- segment of the booster will be assembled with the other four segments, currently at the test stand, and outfitted for a second booster qualification ground test this summer. The test will measure the booster’s performance at a cold motor conditioning target of 40 degrees and also demonstrate that it meets applicable ballistic requirements. NASA successfully completed the first booster qualification test in March 2015. The two full-scale tests provide crucial data to support booster qualification for the first two flights of SLS with NASA's Orion spacecraft. When completed, two five-segment boosters and four RS-25 main engines will power SLS, with Orion atop, on deep-space missions, including to an asteroid and ultimately to Mars. The solid rocket boosters -- measuring 177 feet long and producing 3.6 million pounds of thrust -- operate in parallel with the main engines for the first two minutes of flight. The boosters provide more than 75 percent of the thrust needed for the launch vehicle to escape the gravitational pull of Earth. Orbital ATK is prime contractor for the SLS boosters.
June 28
conditioning target of 40 degrees Fahrenheit
Quote from: AnalogMan on 04/28/2016 10:31 pmJune 28Quote from: AnalogMan on 04/28/2016 10:31 pmconditioning target of 40 degrees FahrenheitMust be technically possible, but wouldn't it have been a lot easier to do this in January?
Could you tell me what is the principle used to go down to that temperature?