NASA successfully completed a test of the world’s largest solid rocket motor yesterday in Utah. Within 2-minutes, “the motor, designed to provide up to 3.6 million pounds of thrust, roaringly fired a column of flame, while some 760 instruments monitored its every aspect.” Video after the break.
Before the motor was fired, the engineers chilled it to 40 degrees below zero, for additional stress testing. It reportedly passed every test. The motor is intended to be used in the heavy-lift rocket segment of the Constellation program that NASA has slated for 2015.
[via Popsci]