The Nation - News from May 6, 1988

Two of three redesigned joints on the space shuttle booster rocket passed their first qualifying tests, Morton Thiokol Inc. engineers said. A NASA spokesman said engineers in Brigham City, Utah, have inspected both the aft and center joints between segments of the solid fuel booster and found both worked as designed during an April 22 full-scale test-firing. Results of tests on the forward joint are expected today. The center joint held up even though an intentional flaw was built into it for the test-firing. Two more full-scale qualifying tests of the booster are planned for June and July, and the shuttle is tentatively set for launch in late August or early September.