Booster rocket fires in Utah for key NASA test for Mars missions

The second and final qualification motor (QM-2) test for the Space Launch System's booster is seen at Orbital ATK Propulsion Systems test facilities. During the Space Launch System flight the boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the thrust needed to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth, the first step on NASA's Journey to Mars. Promontory, Utah, June 28, 2016 | Photo by Bill Ingalls (NASA via AP), St. George News

UTAH (AP) — NASA’s fireworks came early this year with a successful rocket test in Promontory, Utah.

The second and final qualification motor (QM-2) test for the Space Launch System's booster is seen at Orbital ATK Propulsion Systems test facilities. During the Space Launch System flight the boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the thrust needed to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth, the first step on NASA's Journey to Mars. Promontory, Utah, June 28, 2016 | Photo by Bill Ingalls (NASA via AP), St. George News
The second and final qualification motor (QM-2) test for the Space Launch System’s booster is seen at Orbital ATK Propulsion Systems test facilities. During the Space Launch System flight the boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the thrust needed to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth, the first step on NASA’s Journey to Mars. Promontory, Utah, June 28, 2016 | Photo by Bill Ingalls (NASA via AP), St. George News

On Tuesday, NASA fired a booster intended to hoist astronauts into true outer space. The ground test lasted the full two minutes, and the early word is that everything went well.

NASA plans to use the mega-rocket for trips to Mars in the 2030s.

This is the second and final test-firing of the booster designed for NASA’s Space Launch System.

The debut launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in 2018 won’t carry people. A few years later, astronauts will climb aboard for a flight near the moon.

Tuesday’s test was conducted by Orbital ATK, the NASA contractor that also made the smaller shuttle boosters for NASA.

Written by: MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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2 Comments

  • Bob June 28, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    our very own Dumpster could be the first monkey we send to Mars! You up for it, Dumpster?

  • .... June 30, 2016 at 10:46 am

    old news dumbob I’ve already been to Mars. ..yawwwwnnnnn

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