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NASA is working on a new rocket to once again head to the moon. What's new is a safety mechanism on the rocket that was tested today in Utah.
The space shuttle retires in 2010, and the rocket tested today, Ares I, is part of the new generation of space travel. It has new technology allowing the astronauts' capsule to eject from the rocket in an emergency.
"Of course, we hope we never have to use it, and don't anticipate we ever will. But the way we think about these things is: We're gonna have a proper safety mechanism," said Doug White, vice president of ATK Launch Systems Test and Research Services.
The mechanism is a motor connected to the capsule known as Orion. It pulls Orion away from the rocket if there was a malfunction during liftoff or on the launch pad.
At the ATK facility in Promontory, the motor had its first ground test today.
"That's a lot of power. It's the same as two 747s," said former astronaut Frank Culbertson Jr.
Culbertson felt that kind of power as a NASA astronaut for 18 years. As for today's test, he and others thought it had outstanding results.
"Visually, it looked as expected," said Richard Freeman, with Lockheed Martin.
"The test looks like it was really good. Obviously, we have to look at the data to make sure," Culbertson said.
That data was collected through a high-resolution camera, sensor, and hundreds of instruments. They determine temperature and the force of the blast -- crucial information since the flames and gas actually wrap around the capsule the astronauts are in.
During the Apollo days, the United States never had to use this emergency motor, but the Russians did during a launch pad malfunction in 1983.
If all the tests are successful, this motor could be a part of the rocket that goes to the International Space Station and the moon beginning in 2014.
E-mail: gkennedy@ksl.com
