The Nation : Shuttle Booster Survives Fail-Safe Test

A shortened shuttle booster, riddled with major flaws that probably would have destroyed a Challenger-style booster, was successfully fired in a test to show that redesigned O-ring joints are fail-safe. The 52-foot booster, packed with just enough solid propellant to simulate the internal pressure experienced by real shuttle boosters, was fired at the Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, Ala. “The test was a significant test in that it tested the fail-safe features of the solid rocket motor,” John McCarty, a top booster engineer at Marshall, said. It was the last such test required before the first post-Challenger flight, now scheduled for late August, although two full-scale boosters will be fired in June and July.