People watch the successful launch of a NASA rocket in Box Elder County on, Thursday, July 21, 2022. The rocket will be part of the Artemus missions, which is aimed at getting NASA back to the moon. Photo credit: Jane Richards
BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah — NASA and Northrop Grumman had a successful rocket test last Thursday near Promontory Point.
Greg Hurley, of Northrop Grumman, says all the information gathered from the test indicate it was a success.
“The preliminary data has shown that it was a successful test,” he said. “We got a full duration run, which is a little more than two minutes.”
The rockets will play a vital role in sending spacecrafts into space.
“They provide 75 percent of the initial launch thrust as the vehicle climbs to orbit,” he said.
According to Hurley, the rockets will burn for about 2 minutes and 6 seconds.
Hurley also says northern Utah is an ideal spot to hold such tests.
“Having a booster firing, on the ground, that generates 3.6 million pounds of thrust, you can’t just do that anywhere,” he said. “And so, we’re uniquely set up to do that. That’s why we conducted the test here.”
These rockets are part of the Artemus missions.
“Artemus is the name of the program that will get NASA and its partners back to the moon,” Hurley said.
The first Artemus mission is scheduled for late next month.
Mark Jones contributed to this article.
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