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One new material being tested is a new cleaning solvent that is being evaluated for use on future SLS booster nozzles. On August 6th of this year, a sub-scale 24 inch solid rocket motor with a representative nozzle using the solvent was test-fired at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the program used the test results to confirm that it will be tested on a full scale SLS booster. As the manager for motor and booster separation motor systems at Marshall, Tim Lawrence, noted \u201cThis 24-inch motor test is to evaluate the material in a solid rocket motor environment and make sure that we don\u2019t get any unexpected changes in how it performs\u201d.<\/p>\n
As rocket programs continue, product refinements are often developed and introduced, and new processes and technologies are tested on sub-scale solid motors first. If test data supports continued development, the next step is testing on a full flight support booster like the one tested on Wednesday. Depending on the results of the FSB test, the new process or technology can be used on future flight boosters. The Space Shuttle program used similar tests to refine the SRB over time from the early 1980\u2019s to nearly the end of the program, and to test modifications to the system after the 1986 Challenger disaster.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nFlight Support Booster 1 in the T97 test stand at Northrop Grumman\u2019s Promontory, Utah facility, prior to Wednesday\u2019s test firing \u2013 via Northrop Grumman<\/p>\n
The Flight Support Booster is cast and produced on the same production line as the Artemis boosters, using the same methods and personnel. The booster\u2019s propellant, a mixture with fuel and oxidizer particles mixed in to a substance with a rubber-like consistency, is cast in large mixers at the Promontory site. The steel SRB casings, which have flown on Shuttle missions in the past, are cleaned and prepared to receive the propellant mixture, and the propellant is poured in and cured in a large autoclave. Once the segments are finished, they are stored until Northrop Grumman is ready to stack them for the test.<\/p>\n
Preparations for the FSB-1 test firing began in March. The first segment was placed in the test bay in April, and the fifth and final segment was installed in June. The booster is assembled in a building at the test stand and readied for the FSB test, with hundreds of channels of telemetry available to record data and parameters.<\/p>\n
Space Shuttle
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The FSB-1 booster was then conditioned to cold temperatures desired for the test in the weeks leading up to the test. Targeting between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, this stresses the system more than a warm test. After a siren sounds at T-1 minute the booster is fired in a horizontal position with the plume climbing up a hillside, turning the nearby soil into glass. The sound and shockwave can be heard and felt for miles. After the booster shuts down, a Carbon Dioxide system quenches the fire to preserve the state of the booster at burnout, and the test data is evaluated.<\/p>\n