Rocket Launch Test | Idaho Company

Last week, the Northrop Grumman facility in Promontory Point/Corrinne, Utah conducted a static rocket test of its 5-stage solid-fuel booster rocket for NASA’s ongoing Artemis mission. Artemis is an ambitious unmanned space program that will take research ships through longer exploratory missions and return to Earth than has ever been attempted. The test was designed to collect data on several critical performance parameters for the rocket, in front of a large crowd of members of the public, engineers, parts suppliers, university researchers, NASA employees, school groups, and the press. The test, which was deemed successful, lasted nearly two minutes, during which time fuel burned into the scarred mountainside that was used for previous static tests.

The test area itself is located about a mile away from the viewing area, which is not far enough away that the heat and vibrations from the rocket combustion itself are not palpable, even on a hot July afternoon. After a delay in the countdown due to the loss of the camera panel, the launch supervisor announced that the power supply was being checked to determine if the launch could continue. Given the huge expense and logistical work involved in conducting and arranging the tests, the anxiety of the time rested on the added strain on the process. As large crowds celebrate the occasional cloud trying to pass the sun, the heat rises from the mid to eighties as launch time is pushed back.

The green light was finally given as the clock ticked closer to two o’clock, and the launch supervisor performed the necessary system checks prior to ignition. At zero moment, a blinding flash erupted from the base of the rocket, followed seconds later by the unique sound of rocket fuel in full combat. Due to the slower speed of sound, sound waves take longer to reach the observer than they do luminescence, which creates an eerie moment of silence. As the sound reached the crowd, the stifled breaths turned into cheers. As the fire grew brighter and smoke rose high, some of the visible crowd stepped back to take pictures with cell phones, cameras and video devices. The perception of two minutes can certainly vary.

“It doesn’t seem to last that long,” said local visitor Hope Briggs afterward. “But I’ve seen this before.” Malad, which is only about 50 minutes from the launch site, frequently sends visitors, as well as employees, to Northrop Grumman. While exact figures are not available, Northrop Grumman’s communications team noted that Oneida County is a key pool of employees for the facility.

In strictly engineered operations such as spaceflight, ensuring that the design is capable of safely and effectively performing its mission function is critical. For decades, NASA has certainly faced situations where element failures lead to catastrophic results.

The specific properties of the rocket that underwent testing were the performance of the new motor ignition system, the fuel temperature behavior, the new phenotic materials used in various construction elements, and the breaking performance of the high-density nozzle plug. These items are being tested for eventual use in the Artemis 3 project, according to Mark Pond, Booster Manager for Northrop Grumman’s SLS program.

Bruce Tiller, Elements Manager for SLS Booster with NASA/Marshall Spaceflight said, “The best I can say is that it was a great test. I hear the chief engineer arguing about things that aren’t that important, so that’s a good sign!” He further stated that “this is part of a larger NASA goal. All of this hopefully leads us to go back to the moon, maybe live there and mine there. For me, this is a big event [as a part of] makes us think about the bigger picture.”

The SLS FSB-2 rocket consists of 5 segments, each weighing about 300,000 lbs, the equivalent of a blue whale. In total, the rocket weighs about 1.5 million pounds when fully loaded and stands (or lies in this case) 177 feet. When launched, the rocket provides 3.6 million pounds of thrust. Between the two rockets that will eventually take the Artemis mission into space, 75% of the thrust needed to escape the atmosphere will be provided by the Northrop rocket. The test provides 393 data channels to the test administrator, as well as 22 active cameras. Researchers at Northrop Grumman will take components of the test and analyze the data for presentation to NASA earlier this week.

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