In the mid-1950s, with the Cold War raging, Thiokol Corporation, a chemical company then well-known for its synthetic rubber, was becoming involved in the development of solid fuels for rocket motors. The company acquired a large piece of land at this remote site in the Utah desert to use as a rocket proving ground. Since then, Thiokol has been known by various legal names over the years. It became notorious as Morton-Thiokol at the time of the Challenger disaster in 1986, then became ATK Orbital Sciences in the 2000s, and…
