[kellyhound]

NASA successfully tested a rocket booster Wednesday that will one day propel missions beyond Earth’s orbit and to deep space destinations including an asteroid and Mars.

The booster fired two minutes, which mimics the same amount of time it will fire when it lifts the NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket off the launch pad. The booster produced 3.6 million pounds of thrust and created temperatures inside the booster of more than 5,600 degrees.

“The work being done around the country today to build SLS is laying a solid foundation for future exploration missions, and these missions will enable us to pioneer far into the solar system,” said William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations, in a release.

“The teams are doing tremendous work to develop what will be a national asset for human exploration and potential science missions.”

The test was conducted in the Promontory, Utah, and is one of two tests planned to qualify the booster for flight. Once the booster is qualified, the flight booster hardware will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first SLS flight.

When completed and approved for flight, the 177-feet-long solid rocket boosters operate in parallel with the main engines for the first two minutes of flight and will provide more than 75 percent of the thrust needed for the rocket to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/03/...er-ever-video/

[Mr Poo]

Weird seeing it not move while throwing out all that power.. Like the worlds largest flamethrower.

[Kanda444]

that was fuckin amazing!!! i cant believe how fuckin bright it was!!! goddamn, i cant wait to see that beauty fly!!!

3.6 million pounds of thrust and created temperatures inside the booster of more than 5,600 degrees

[PlinyTheYounger]

Fuck.

[cortdb]

isnt that a bird walking away at 16 seconds? Lol i think it is. Holy shit thats a bad ass bird. And rocket motor too.

[GregK]

Wow. Thats alot thrust. I wonder how long they can keep those burning while still being effective.

How do they keep that fastened down?

[GregK]

A lot of. Man I need to pay attention.

[JoeBlack666]

few more strapped to the earth and we can move it

[BryanXavier]

Did anyone else wonder how much crushing strength the cone had? I'd like to know how they kept it stationary and strong enough not to pancake itself.

Great video.

[GregK]

Originally Posted by BryanXavier ↗

Did anyone else wonder how much crushing strength the cone had? I'd like to know how they kept it stationary and strong enough not to pancake itself.

Great video.

Good point, how did it not deform from such unspent energy?