NASA Supports Train-Derailment Recovery in Alabama

NASA Supports Train-Derailment Recovery in Alabama

Officials from NASA and ATK Launch Systems, Brigham City, Utah, are assisting the Federal Railroad Administration during its investigation of a train derailment Wednesday morning near Pennington, Ala. The train was carrying space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor segments from the ATK Launch Systems manufacturing site in Brigham City to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

“Several members of the NASA family were injured in this serious accident. Today our prayers are for those who have been injured and their families. Our employees work in hazardous jobs every day, and it is our goal to keep them safe,” said NASA’s Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale.

The special train carrying only solid rocket motor segments and a passenger car to monitor their transportation was crossing a bridge or a trestle, which collapsed under the locomotives. Six people were injured when the two locomotives and the passenger car dropped about 10 feet and turned on their sides. One of the cars carrying a solid rocket motor segment is also on its side. The remaining cars containing seven solid rocket motor segments and two aft exit cone segments are upright.

The hardware was intended for use on shuttle Discovery’s STS-120 mission in October and shuttle Atlantis’s STS-122 mission in December. These segments are interchangeable, and ATK Launch Systems has replacement units that could be used for the shuttle flights, if necessary.

Read the complete Press Release