The story
In 1926, two chemists, Joseph C. Patrick and Nathan Mnookin, were trying to invent an inexpensive antifreeze. In the course of an experiment involving ethylene dichloride and sodium polysulfide, they created a gum whose outstanding characteristic was a terrible odor. The substance clogged a sink in the laboratory, and none of the solvents used to remove it were successful. The frustrated chemists realized that the resistance of the material to any kind of solvent was a useful property. They had invented a synthetic rubber, which they christened "Thiokol".
In 1929, Bevis Longstreth, an executive at Morton Salt, founded the Thiokol Corporation in Trenton, New Jersey. He became its president and general manager.
Longstreth died in 1944, leaving the position of president and general manager open. William Crosby became general manager.
The next year, in 1945, Charles Bartley, working for the nascent Jet Propulsion Laboratory, discovered the use of thiokol as a stabilizer in solid-fuel rockets.
In 1948, a plant in Elkton, Maryland was opened, producing solid rocket motors.
In 1949, Thiokol produced the TX-18 Falcon missile, the world's first solid-fueled missile system.
In 1957, anticipating the forthcoming Minuteman contract, the company built its plant west of Brigham City, Utah,
near Promontory and Thiokol Huntsville began building XM33 Pollux missiles.
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In 1958, Thiokol merged with Reaction Motors Inc. (RMI), makers of liquid propellant rocket motor systems.
Also in 1958, Thiokol received a contract to build the TU-122 rocket motor for the first stage of the LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM system.
In 1959, Thiokol Huntsville began producing CASTOR strap-on booster rocket, used on the Atlas rocket.
In 1964, the Woodbine, Georgia plant was constructed to build solid propellant motors for NASA, but the agency changed course and used liquid fuel.
In 1969, Thiokol was awarded a U.S. Army contract to manufacture 750,000 Tripflares for use in the Vietnam War. In 1971, an explosion in the magnesium flare assembly facility at the Woodbine plant killed 29 and injured 50.
In 1974, Thiokol won the contract to build the solid rocket booster (SRB) for the Space Shuttle. In 1975, Thiokol succeeded Sperry Rand as operator of the large Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant near Minden, Louisiana. In 1978, the company sold its ski lift division to CTEC and its snow equipment division to Logan Manufacturing Company (LMC), owned by John DeLorean.
In 1980, Thiokol acquired Carlisle Chemical Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1982, Thiokol merged with Morton-Norwich products (owners of the Morton Salt concern, the Simoniz automotive products brand, and various chemical concerns) with the merged company called Morton Thiokol Incorporated (MTI).
In 1986, an O-ring fault in an MTI SRB destroyed Space Shuttle Challenger in flight. The company was found at fault for the destruction of Challenger and deaths of the astronauts, as a direct result of pressure from NASA to launch, based on inconclusive evidence of the failure of O-rings on the solid rocket boosters when subject to freezing temperatures. (See Space Shuttle Challenger disaster).
In 1989, Morton Thiokol split, with most of the chemical concern going with Morton but the propulsion systems division became Thiokol Inc. Then in 1998, Thiokol changed its name to Cordant Technologies. Also in 1998, Thiokol branded polymer products purchased by PolySpec L.P., a Houston-based manufacturer of industrial coatings, marine decking, and subsea insulation products.
In 2000, Thiokol merged with two divisions of Alcoa and with Howmet Castings and Huck Fasteners to become AIC Group (Alcoa Industrial Components). In 2001, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Inc. (a company formed when Honeywell spun off its defense division) spent $2.9 billion buying Thiokol and related businesses from AIC/Alcoa. ATK built the third stage of the Trident missile and had earlier bought Hercules Aerospace Co., builder of the second stage. With the purchase of Thiokol, makers of the missile's first stage, ATK controlled the lion's share of the US solid rocket-fuel market. In 2005, ATK-Thiokol won the contract to produce the Ares I launch vehicle first stage for NASA's Project Constellation.
In 2006, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Inc. was renamed ATK-Thiokol and then ATK Launch Systems Group. In 2014, Orbital ATK was formed from the merger of Orbital Sciences Corporation and parts of Alliant Techsystems. In 2018, Orbital ATK was purchased by Northrop Grumman.
From Wikipedia’s article on Thiokol, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4