SPACE.com -- Investigation Begins of Troubled Atlas 5 Solid Rocket Motor Test

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	Investigation Begins of Troubled Atlas 5 Solid Rocket Motor Test By Jim Banke Senior Producer, posted: 05:30 pm ET 18 March 2002

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Officials are investigating why a new Atlas 5 solid rocket booster didn't properly fire for two-third's of the time it was supposed to burn during a ground test in California on Friday.

Intended to last 95 seconds, the test went well for about 30 seconds or so when the appearance of fire and smoke belching from the motor's nozzle changed and instrumentation showed a drop in thrust and internal pressure, Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Joan Underwood said.

Coverage of the test by a Sacramento television station appeared to show the motor firing for more than two minutes before it was clear the booster had burned all its solid propellant fuel. It didn't appear in the aerial video footage that the exhaust burned through the casing.

The exercise was the first in a series of tests intended to qualify the Aerojet-built motor for use on Lockheed Martin's new Atlas 5 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.

"We're not considering the test a failure," said Aerojet spokesman Mike Finkle. "We were able to capture some excellent data and we were able to achieve several of our test goals."

Those goals included chilling the motor to start at a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), testing a mix of propellant used at ignition that will put less stress on the Atlas 5 at liftoff and verifying engineering models that predicted what the proper thrust and pressure should be -- at least until the problem surfaced.

Underwood said it was too early to say what happened to ruin the final two-thirds of the test and that engineers are still collecting data, inspecting the spent motor and examining videotape and films of the test.

First use of the new solid rocket boosters on the Atlas 5 is planned for some time in 2003 and at this point managers don't think the troubled test will delay the introduction of the motor, Underwood said.

Aerojet won a $500 million contract from Lockheed Martin in 1999 to design, test and produce the new Atlas 5 boosters, which are largely based on the company's design and experience with the solid motors used on the Minuteman and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles.

First launch of the Atlas 5 rocket, which will not use any of the Aerojet motors on its inaugural mission, is expected this summer.