FSM-17 Space Shuttle Reuseable Solid Rocket Motor Static Test

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/final_motor_test.html

February 25, 2010 — The thunderous roar from a space shuttle solid rocket booster reverberating and rebounding off the mountains of northern Utah was heard for the final time Thursday, as NASA and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) ignited their last ground test after three decades of static firings.

The 52nd reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM) ground test since the first was fired July 18, 1977, the two minute and three second horizontal "launch" was performed in support of NASA's remaining four shuttle missions before the fleet is retired later this year.

ATK's Solid Rocket Boosters Help Launch Space Shuttle Endeavour

ATK's Titanium Auxiliary Power Unit Fuel Tanks Supply Orbiter's Hydraulic System
PR Newswire
MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/Alliant Techsystems' (NYSE: ATK) Reusable Solid Rocket Motors (RSRM) ignited at 4:14 a.m. EST, launching the Space Shuttle Endeavour and its crew on their 13-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). More than 100 RSRM flight sets have been launched to date, marking a two-decade track record of flawless performance.

"The successful launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour highlights the capabilities and progress ATK and NASA have made in developing the most reliable, affordable and capable family of solid rocket motors ever produced," said Blake Larson, ATK Space Systems President. "Tremendous synergy is garnered by utilizing motors with unmatched safety and reliability from the space shuttle for NASA's future human spaceflight programs."

The 149-foot-tall solid rocket boosters each produced more than 15 million horsepower, safely launching the shuttle to approximately 28 miles in altitude in just over two minutes. After the flight, the RSRMs were jettisoned from the orbiter and external tank by ATK's 16 Booster Separation Motors (BSMs). Each booster has eight BSMs: four on the forward skirt and four on the aft skirt. The separation motors propelled the RSRMs to a safe distance from the shuttle orbiter, enabling the spent boosters to parachute down through the Earth's atmosphere where they splashed down into the ocean and were recovered. The solid rocket motors were produced at ATK's facility in Promontory, Utah.

In addition, ATK supplied the titanium hydrazine propellant tanks for the space shuttle Auxiliary Power Unit (APU). Three APU tanks, manufactured at ATK's Commerce, Calif., facility, house the hydrazine fuel that generates power for the shuttle's hydraulic system. These tanks have performed perfectly for each of the shuttle's three decades of operations.

Endeavour's flight will include three spacewalks and the delivery of a connecting module that will increase the ISS's interior space. Node 3, known as Tranquility, will provide additional room for crew members and many of the space station's life support and environmental control systems. Attached to the node is a cupola, which is a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center that will provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. After the node and cupola are added, the space station will be about 90 percent complete.

Since the inaugural flight of the space shuttle, ATK and NASA have constantly improved their techniques and processes to increase the safety and mission reliability of the RSRMs. These motors have undergone countless subscale material characterization tests that tie together complex analyses with hard data. They have also undergone 52 full-scale ground tests. This heritage is being transferred to the Ares I first stage program, which recently performed a successful ground test of its five-segment solid rocket in September 2009.

"As we move closer to the completion of the Space Shuttle Program, ATK continues its focus on a rigorous test program, with the final RSRM static firing in just two weeks," said Mike Kahn, ATK Space Systems executive vice president. "These investments directly contribute to the safety and cost-effectiveness of the motors as we move into the testing phase for NASA's next generation systems."

ATK is a premier aerospace and defense company with more than 18,000 employees in 22 states, Puerto Rico and internationally, and revenues of approximately $4.8 billion. News and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com.

Certain information discussed in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although ATK believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Among those factors are: assumptions related to the challenges of developing next-generation space launch vehicles; changes in governmental spending, budgetary policies and product sourcing strategies; the company's competitive environment; the terms and timing of awards and contracts; and economic conditions. ATK undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For further information on factors that could impact ATK, and statements contained herein, please refer to ATK's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

STS-130 MCC Status Report #01

After a one day delay due to clouds, space shuttle Endeavour launched at 3:14 a.m. CST Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a new module and an attached cupola for the International Space Station that should increase human understanding of our home planet.

Spectacular Launch Begins a Complex Mission After a one-day delay due to clouds,
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:13:21 AM MST

"What a beautiful launch we had this morning... the orbiter performed extremely well," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations, during the STS-130 postlaunch news conference. "This is a great start to a very complicated mission."



Jean-Jacques Dordain, European Space Agency director general, thanked NASA, the crew and the ground teams for "a very beautiful launch." Dordain said, "It was an important event. Even more important for us because the shuttle was full of European hardware."

Mike Moses, shuttle launch integration manager, said the count went unbelievably smooth. He commented how the weather constraints influenced the launch of space shuttle Endeavour and how happy he was that it all came together today. Docking is set for flight day three with three spacewalks planned to install the Tranquility node and then cupola permanently to the International Space Station. "This will be a good example of international partnerships and cooperation between the station crew and shuttle crew," said Moses.

"This was one of the smoothest countdowns ever," said Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director. "The team was very, very energized going into the count."

ATK Sets Final Shuttle Rocket Test

ATK Space Systems in Promontory Utah says the ground test, scheduled for February 25, will signal the end of the space shuttle program.

ATK, the company that makes booster rockets for the space shuttle, says it will conduct a final test firing in northern Utah later this month.

NASA had intended to replace the space shuttle with a new spaceship and launcher for travel to the moon and beyond, however, President Barack Obama has proposed scrapping the new program for something different, leaving NASA's longtime contractor in Utah with an uncertain future.

Clearfield-based ATK Space Systems has laid off 970 workers in Utah since October, citing the phase-out of the space shuttle and the Minuteman III ballistic missile programs.

ATK and NASA to Perform Final Ground Test for the Space Shuttle Program

Test will Ensure Safety for Four Remaining Shuttle Flights
Feb 05, 2010

PROMONTORY, Utah, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) and NASA will conduct the last ground test for the Space Shuttle program on February 25, marking the closure of a program that has spanned more than three decades and ushering in the era of the next generation of space exploration.

Test Objectives/Background:

•A total of 43 design objectives will be measured through 258 instrument channels
•This final test will be the 52nd test conducted for NASA's Space Shuttle Program
•The ground test will be conducted to ensure the safe fly-out of the remaining four missions
•The first test was conducted on July 18, 1977
•The cases have previously flown on the space shuttle, collectively launching 38 missions