|
Thiokol
Thiokol (variously Thiokol Chemical Corporation(/Company), Morton Thiokol Inc., Cordant Technologies Inc., Thiokol Propulsion, AIC Group, ATK Thiokol, ATK Launch Systems Group; finally Orbital ATK before becoming part of Northrop Grumman) was an American corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems. Its name is a portmanteau of the Greek words for sulfur (θεῖον ''"theion"'') and glue (κόλλα ''"kolla"''), an allusion to the company's initial product, Thiokol polymer. The Thiokol Chemical Company was founded in 1929. Its initial business was a range of synthetic rubber and polymer sealants. Thiokol was a major supplier of liquid polymer sealants during World War II. When scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory discovered that Thiokol's polymers made ideal binders for solid rocket fuels, Thiokol moved into the new field, opening laboratories at Elkton, Maryland, and later production facilitie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thiokol-Woodbine Explosion
The Thiokol-Woodbine explosion occurred at 10:53 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, EDT on Wednesday, February 3, 1971, at the Thiokol chemical plant, southeast of Woodbine, Georgia, and north of Jacksonville, Florida, when large quantities of flares and their components in building M-132 were ignited by a fire and detonation occurred. Background Plant history Thiokol, Thiokol Chemical at Woodbine was a complex of 36 buildings"Thiokol Chemical Explosion near Woodbine, Georgia" Our Georgia History located on at the former Floyd Plantation, constructed in 1964 to test and build solid propellant rocket motors for NASA. However, the space agency changed plans and decided to use liquid fuel; Thiokol modified the installation to manufacture other products. In 1969, the compa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
On January 28, 1986, the broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39a.m. Eastern Time Zone, EST (16:39 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC). It was the first fatal accident involving an List of space programs of the United States, American spacecraft in flight. The mission, designated STS-51-L, was the tenth flight for the Space Shuttle orbiter, orbiter and the twenty-fifth flight of the Space Shuttle fleet. The crew was scheduled to deploy a communications satellite and study Halley's Comet while they were in orbit, in addition to taking school teacher Christa McAuliffe into space. The latter resulted in a higher than usual media interest and coverage of the mission; the launch and subsequent disaster were seen live in many schools across the United States. The cause of the disaster was the failure of the two O-ring seals in a joint in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rogers Commission Report
The Rogers Commission Report was written by a Presidential Commission (United States), Presidential Commission charged with investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster during its 10th mission, STS-51-L. The report, released and submitted to President Ronald Reagan on June 9, 1986, both determined the cause of the disaster that took place 73 seconds after liftoff, and urged NASA to improve and install new safety features on the shuttles and in its organizational handling of future missions. Commission members * William P. Rogers, chairman and former United States Secretary of State (under Richard Nixon) and United States Attorney General (under Dwight Eisenhower) * Neil Armstrong (Vice Chairman), retired astronaut and first human to walk on the Moon (Apollo 11) * David Campion Acheson, diplomat and son of former Secretary of State Dean Acheson * Eugene E. Covert, aeronautics expert and former Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Project Nike
Project Nike (Greek: Νίκη, "Victory") was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the Nike Ajax, in 1953. A great number of the technologies and rocket systems used for developing the Nike Ajax were re-used for a number of functions, many of which were given the "Nike" name (after Nike, the goddess of victory from Greek mythology). The missile's first-stage solid rocket booster became the basis for many types of rocket including the Nike Hercules missile and NASA's Nike Smoke rocket, used for upper-atmosphere research. History Project Nike began during 1944 when the War Department demanded a new air defense system to combat new jet aircraft, as existing gun-based systems proved largely incapable of dealing with the speeds and altitudes at which jet aircraft operated. Two proposals were accepted. Bell La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thiokol (polymer)
''Thiokol'' is a trade mark for various organic polysulfide polymers. Thiokol polymers are used as an elastomer in seals and sealants. The distinction between the polymers first commercialized by the Thiokol Corporation and subsequent polysulfide materials is often unclear. Preparation and structure A variety of thiokols are recognized. Typically they are prepared by the combination of 2-chloroethanol, formaldehyde, and sodium polysulfide (Na2S''x''). The chloroethanol is produced in situ from ethylene oxide and hydrogen chloride. The rank ''x'' of the polysulfide is an important variable. Crosslinking agents are used, such as 1,2,3-trichloropropane. An idealized polymer is represented by this formula HS(CH2CH2OCH2OCH2CH2SS)''n''CH2CH2OCH2OCH2CH2SH. Thiol-terminated resins can be cured oxidatively. History and etymology In 1838, Swiss chemists reported the preparation of hydrophobic rubbery materials by the alkylation of sodium polysulfide with 1,2-dichloroethane. In 1926 chemis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snowcats
A snowcat (short for snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to move on snow. Major manufacturers are Pisten Bully (Germany), Prinoth (Italy) and Tucker (United States). Snow groomers A snowcat dedicated to snow maintenance rather than transport is a snow groomer. Other terms are "piste machines", "trail groomers" (in North American English) or "piste bashers" (in British English) because of their use in preparing ski trails ("pistes") or snowmobile trails. Other functions In addition to grooming snow they are used for polar expeditions, logging in marsh areas, leveling sugar beet piles, medical evacuations and seismic studies in the wild. Construction Most snowcats, such as the ones produced by Bombardier or Aktiv in the past, have two sets of tracks, fitted with a Christie suspension or a Horstmann suspension. Others, like the Tucker Sno-Cat and Hägglunds ''Bandvagn 206'' vehicles, have a complex arrangement of four or m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
O-ring
An O-ring, also known as a packing or a toric joint, is a mechanical gasket in the shape of a torus; it is a loop of elastomer with a round cross-section, designed to be seated in a groove and compressed during assembly between two or more parts, forming a seal at the interface. The O-ring may be used in static applications or in dynamic applications where there is relative motion between the parts and the O-ring. Dynamic examples include rotating pump shafts and hydraulic cylinder pistons. Static applications of O-rings may include fluid or gas sealing applications in which: (1) the O-ring is compressed resulting in zero clearance, (2) the O-ring material is vulcanized solid such that it is impermeable to the fluid or gas, and (3) the O-ring material is resistant to degradation by the fluid or gas. The wide range of potential liquids and gases that need to be sealed has necessitated the development of a wide range of materials. O-rings are one of the most common seals used i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' (OV-099) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the commanding ship of a nineteenth-century scientific expedition that traveled the world, ''Challenger'' was the second Space Shuttle orbiter to fly into space after '' Columbia'', and launched on its maiden flight in April 1983. It was destroyed in January 1986 soon after launch in an accident that killed all seven crewmembers aboard. Initially manufactured as a test article not intended for spaceflight, it was utilized for ground testing of the Space Shuttle orbiter's structural design. However, after NASA found that their original plan to upgrade ''Enterprise'' for spaceflight would be more expensive than upgrading ''Challenger'', the orbiter was pressed into operational service in the Space Shuttle program. Lessons learned from the first orbital flights of ''Columbia'' led to ''Challenger''s design possessing fewer thermal protectio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal (RSA) is a United States Army post and a census-designated place (CDP) adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, United States and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The Arsenal is a garrison for various tenants across the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and NASA. RSA has benefited from decisions by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The Redstone Arsenal CDP had a residential population of 837 as of the 2020 census. The base contains a government and contractor workforce that averages 36,000 to 40,000 personnel daily. Established during World War II as a chemical manufacturing facility, in the immediate post-war era the Arsenal was used for research and development by German weapons rocket scientists who were brought to the U.S. as part of Operation Paperclip. The team first worked on ballistic missiles, starting with V-2 rocket derivatives, before moving on to a series of ever larger designs. Man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woodbine, Georgia
Woodbine is a city in, and the county seat of, Camden County, Georgia, United States, an original county established when the state constitution was adopted in 1777. The population was 1,412 at the 2010 census. The East Coast Greenway, a 3,000 mile long system of trails connecting Maine to Florida, runs along the Woodbine Riverwalk. Spaceport Camden is being developed adjacent to the city. History Records in 1765 show that John Brown, John McGillvary, William Molyneaux and William Trowin petitioned English authorities for south of the Satilla River. They were granted the land named Pile's Bluff, which historians believe to be near Woodbine. A tract of land was granted to Anton Cunning by the state in 1808. It became known as the Woodbine Plantation. Luke John Bailey purchased it in 1835 and held it through the Civil War, during which the house was burned by Union troops. James King Bedell acquired the property, constructed a new house, and restored the plantation. The railroad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its west by Nevada. Utah also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast. Of the fifty U.S. states, Utah is the 13th-largest by area; with a population over three million, it is the 30th-most-populous and 11th-least-densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two areas: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which is home to roughly two-thirds of the population and includes the capital city, Salt Lake City; and Washington County in the southwest, with more than 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the Great Basin. Utah has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups such as the ancient Puebloans, Navajo and Ute. The Spanish were the first Europe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital ATK
Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) was a sector (business segment) of Northrop Grumman from 2018 through 2019. It was formed from Orbital ATK Inc. a company which resulted from the merger of Orbital Sciences Corporation and parts of Alliant Techsystems in 2015. Orbital ATK was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2018. Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems designed, built, and delivered space, defense, and aviation-related systems to customers around the world both as a prime contractor and as a merchant supplier. It had a workforce of approximately 12,000 employees dedicated to aerospace and defense including about 4,000 engineers and scientists; 7,000 manufacturing and operations specialists; and 1,000 management and administration personnel. With Northrop Grumman's reorganization of its divisions effective January 1, 2020, NGIS was split, with most of the sector merging with other Northrop Grumman businesses into a new Space Systems sector. History A merger of Orbital S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
