Article: Shuttle rocket motor tested

PROMONTORY, Box Elder County -- NASA strapped its oldest Space Shuttle rocket motor to a concrete slab Thursday and lit the match, initiating a two-minute burn.

Rocket scientists conducted 32 tests during the firing, primarily checking the motor's performance compared to the performance of a new motor. The tests were done while a sizable crowd of onlookers gathered 1 1/2 miles away watched the nozzle glow orange and thick, brown smoke billow for several seconds before the roaring sound caught up with them.

"Awesome," was the single word people used to describe the event.

Time will tell whether test results vary from an identically designed motor burned on the test pad several years ago, ...

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