The Nation - News from April 21, 1988

A full-scale firing in Brigham City, Utah, of the redesigned space shuttle booster rocket was cautiously hailed as a step toward the resumption of manned flights in August. But Morton Thiokol and National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials said it will take a week to 10 days to verify that the two-minute test, the first of three final tests required before a shuttle launch, was a complete success. The test was the first full-scale firing in which deliberate flaws were introduced in critical joint seals, one of which failed and caused the destruction of the Challenger. “From everything we’ve seen, it performed exactly as we expected it to,” said Morton Thiokol official Alan McDonald.