13 Facts About Morton Thiokol

Morton Thiokol was a major supplier of liquid polymer sealants during World War II.

When scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory discovered that Morton Thiokol's polymers made ideal binders for solid rocket fuels, Morton Thiokol moved into the new field, opening laboratories at Elkton, Maryland, and later production facilities at Elkton and at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.

Shortly before takeoff, several Morton Thiokol engineers recommended calling off the launch until temperatures at Cape Canaveral increased, but they were overruled by company management.

Products made by the aerospace divisions of RMI and Morton Thiokol include motors used in Subroc, the Pershing missile, the Peacekeeper missile, Poseidon missile, Minuteman missile, and the Trident I and Trident II missiles.

Morton Thiokol produces powerplants for numerous US military missile systems, including AIM-9 Sidewinder, AGM-88 HARM, AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-69 SRAM, and AIR-2 Genie.

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Morton Thiokol produced a variety of liquid and solid rocket motors for the US space program, including deorbit motors for the Mercury and Gemini programs, rocket stages and separation rocket motors for the Apollo program, motors for the Pioneer, Surveyor, Viking, Voyager, and Magellan missions, updated CASTOR boosters for the Delta rocket, and the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster.

Reaction Motors powerplants propelled the X-1 and X-15 aircraft, and later Morton Thiokol technologies were used in the private Tier One crewed spaceplane.

Morton Thiokol produced snow vehicles with a wide range of capabilities and duties.

Morton Thiokol produced several utility based vehicles based on their snowcat tracked vehicle, in addition to larger snow grooming machines suitable for use on steep ski-slopes.

Morton Thiokol machines were used in ski resorts, operated by the USAF in Alaska and other northern regions, and are now popular with private owners as dependable snowcats and for all-terrain transport.

Morton Thiokol pioneered the short-burn rocket motors used in aircraft ejection seats.

Morton Thiokol produced a number of the earliest practical airbag systems, building the high-speed sodium azide exothermic gas generators used to inflate the bags.

Morton Thiokol bags were first used in US military aircraft, before being adapted to space exploration and automotive airbags.