• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

ATK and NASA Team Complete Successful Ares I Parachute Drop Test

Mar 02, 2009

Drogue Parachute Passes Second Key Test for the NASA Program

MINNEAPOLIS, March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems , the prime contractor for the first stage of the Ares I launch vehicle, along with NASA, the U.S. Army, and the United Space Alliance (USA), successfully conducted the second in a series of four Ares I drogue parachute drop tests. These tests are for the development of the deceleration system for the Ares I First Stage booster. The test was conducted at the Army's Yuma Proving Grounds.

The drogue parachute reorients and decelerates the Ares I first stage booster to an acceptable speed and condition before the main parachutes are deployed.

The parachute test was conducted by extracting a 50,000-pound test drone from a C-17 aircraft at an altitude of 25,000 feet. The test drone was allowed to accelerate to a pre-determined velocity, and then the 68-foot diameter drogue parachute was deployed. The test measured the basic performance characteristics of the drogue parachute such as drag area and parachute inflation loads. Initial data indicate the test met all its objectives.

"The test went flawlessly and met all of our expectations," said Mike Kahn, executive vice president of ATK Space Systems. "We have a great team of individuals and subcontractors who helped ensure success of this important test, bringing us closer to full development of the new Ares I first stage."

The parachute was designed and manufactured by USA at Kennedy Space Center under a subcontract to ATK. The chute is derived from the 54-foot drogue parachute currently used on the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB), which splash into the Atlantic Ocean after each shuttle launch.

The Ares I launch vehicle, which is slated to replace the Space Shuttle, utilizes a first stage, five-segment reusable booster developed from the twin four-segment boosters used to launch the Shuttle. Due to the added weight of the extra segment, and the higher apogee reached by the Ares booster, the current parachute system needed to be upgraded. Similar to the Space Shuttle SRBs, the Ares first stage recovery system will consist of pilot and drogue chutes that reorient and decelerate the booster prior to deploying a cluster of three main parachutes.

To date, ATK and its partners haves conducted three drop tests of the pilot parachute. Two more tests are scheduled over the next two years. Additionally, two successful tests of the main parachute have been conducted. Four additional main parachute tests are scheduled over the next two years.

ATK is a premier aerospace and defense company with more than 17,000 employees in 21 states and $4.5 billion in revenue. News and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com.

Certain information discussed in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although ATK believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Among those factors are: assumptions related to the development of the Ares I program; changes in governmental spending, budgetary policies and product sourcing strategies; the company's competitive environment; the terms and timing of awards and contracts; and economic conditions. ATK undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For further information on factors that could impact ATK, and statements contained herein, please refer to ATK's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Media Contact:                            Investor Contact:

    Trina Patterson                           Jeff Huebschen
    Phone:  801-699-0943                      Phone:  952-351-2929
    E-mail: trina.patterson@atk.com           E-mail: jeff.huebschen@atk.com