
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - - The media station their cameras to capture the move of the aft skirt and lower segment of the Solid Rocket Booster for the Return to Flight mission STS-114. A significant milestone in Return to Flight, these first segments are moving from the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building. 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
04pd2376
Date Created
November 22, 2004
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Photographer
NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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