Wednesday, March 11, 2015

NASA's latest rocket, built to take humans to Mars, has successful test firing


The world’s largest solid rocket booster roared to life today, shaking the serene countryside of Promontory, Utah, for a full two minutes. The booster filled the area with smoke and flame; viewers could actually see the fiery plumes "dance" and move around as they mixed with the surrounding soil. Below the test stand, a layer of sand protecting underlying concrete structures melted into glass from the heat. Bystanders were treated to a real-life example of how light travels faster than sound: the flames and vibrations were readily observable before the sound from the booster was heard.


it went off without a hitchThis is the first of two planned qualification tests, designed to validate the booster’s performance, and it went off...


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