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Northrop Grumman and NASA donate Shuttle boosters to California Science Center by Staff Writers Promontory UT (SPX) Sep 16, 2020
Northrop Grumman Corporation and NASA have donated a set of flight-worthy solid rocket boosters from the Space Shuttle Program to the California Science Center, located in Los Angeles, California, to display with the Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour and a real Space Shuttle external tank in a launch configuration. "The contributions made by the Space Shuttle Program to space science and exploration have been powerful," said Charlie Precourt, vice president, propulsion systems, Northrop Grumman. "We are excited to share a piece of our more than 30 year legacy with future generations to help inspire a new era of explorers." The California Science Center's goal for this exhibit is to preserve and display the only existing full stack of an orbiter, genuine solid rocket boosters, and external tank in the launch position. The Space Shuttle Endeavour will be the centerpiece in the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, the Phase III expansion project of the Science Center. After NASA awarded the last existing flight-worthy external tank (ET-94) to the Science Center Foundation in 2015, it became evident it would be critical to have a flight-worthy set of solid rocket boosters, not only for authenticity but also for seismic structural safety. Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center Project Director Dennis Jenkins made the request to Northrop Grumman. The booster cases that Northrop Grumman is donating to the California Science Center have flown on a combined 81 space shuttle flights and have been part of 32 ground tests. "As for the non-motor parts of the booster, we sourced a set of flight-worthy aft skirts and frustums from NASA surplus and a set of forward skirts that were used for tests for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) Program in Utah at Northrop Grumman," said Jenkins. "Northrop Grumman and NASA are providing most of the smaller parts, like booster separation motors, from surplus." The donation of the shuttle boosters builds upon a more than decade long partnership the company has had with the Science Center. Northrop Grumman has sponsored the California State Science and Engineering Fair and several of the company's employees volunteer their time each year to advance STEM education by supporting various events. The company also supports the center's annual Discovery Ball.
India eyes hypersonic cruise missile with domestically-made scramjet engine New Delhi (Sputnik) Sep 08, 2020 After successfully demonstrating an anti-satellite missile last year, Narendra Modi's government has given the green light to the maiden test flight of a prototype of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle. The state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed the prototype for the test a few years ago. India's state-funded DRDO has flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) using the domestically-developed scramjet propulsion system, Indi ... read more
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