Flawed Joint Holds In Gases in Shuttle Test
Despite deliberate flaws, a joint on the redesigned space shuttle booster prevented super-hot gases from escaping during a test-firing of the rocket, Morton Thiokol announced Thursday.
The findings from the test, conducted Aug. 18 at the aerospace company’s northern Utah plant 25 miles west of Brigham City, may have been the most reassuring yet for the nation’s manned spaceflight program.
Morton Thiokol spokesman Ed Snow said Thursday that engineers had finished taking apart the rocket’s aft segment. Study of the rest of the test booster was continuing.
“They looked at the intentional flaws and were very pleased to see that hot gases had not blown by the primary O-ring, that it had sealed properly,” he said.
The success of last week’s test, the fifth and final firing of the new 126-foot solid-fuel booster, is vital to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s plans to resume shuttle missions.
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