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[b]ATK and NASA Team Break World Record with Successful Ares I Parachute Drop Test[/b] [i]Drogue Parachute Passes Third Key Test for NASA Ares I Program[/i] Alliant Techsystems, along with NASA, the U.S. Army, and United Space Alliance (USA), broke the record for the largest single load extracted out of a C-17 aircraft as they successfully conducted an Ares I drogue parachute drop-test. The test was conducted at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds as the team deployed a record-breaking weight of 77,000 pounds of payload from a C-17 aircraft flying at 25,000 feet. The previous record was 72,000 pounds. Following release, the test article was allowed to accelerate to a pre-determined velocity before the 68-foot diameter drogue parachute was deployed. The drogue parachute is designed to reorient and decelerate the first stage booster to an acceptable speed and condition before the three main parachutes are deployed. This test exercised the drogue parachute to its' intended 450,000 pound design load for the Ares I first stage. Initial data indicate the test met all objectives. Similar to the shuttle program, the Ares I first stage solid rocket motor is designed to be recovered to collect valuable post-flight data and reused. These data aid engineers in understanding the motor's performance, ensuring it remains within design parameters. "The postflight data we collect from the shuttle program and now in the next generation are a unique key element to human-rating," said Charlie Precourt, vice president and general manager Space Launch Systems, ATK Aerospace Systems. "Today's test validates the deceleration system will work in future flights and continue to provide us with a wealth of information." The main parachutes for the Ares I recovery system are 20 percent larger than the one currently used on the shuttle boosters, to accommodate for the added weight of the fifth segment. The system was tested during the Ares I-X flight and had a minor anomaly when a reefing line prematurely fired, causing one of the main parachutes to fail. The booster was still recovered and engineers have identified design solutions that will prevent this failure on future flights. This test was the third in a series of four planned drogue parachute drop tests. The final test will be an overload test, testing the parachute beyond the load expected for normal operations. The parachutes are designed and manufactured by USA at the Kennedy Space Center under a subcontract to ATK. To date, ATK and its partners have successfully conducted three pilot, three drogue, three single main, and one main cluster parachute drop tests. Three additional parachute drop tests are planned over the program.
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