
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The transporter arrives at the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility to move the aft skirt and lower segment of the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) to the Vehicle Assembly. These segments are the first to be prepared for Return to Flight on mission STS-114. Other segments will follow for stacking. Two SRBs support the liftoff of the Space Shuttle on a launch. The twin 149-foot tall, 12-foot diameter SRBs provide the main propulsion system during launch to place the 180,000-pound orbiters in the proper orbit around the Earth. They operate parallel with the Space Shuttle main engines for the first two minutes of flight and jettison away from the orbiter with help from the Booster Separation Motors, about 26.3 nautical miles above the Earth’s surface.
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NASA ID
04pd2358
Date Created
November 22, 2004
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KSC
Media Type
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NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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