KSC-07pd3467

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers release the crane from the transportation cover over the solid rocket booster segment. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The long train of segments is part of the twin solid rocket boosters used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segment is lowered onto the car. The covered segments are moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to Utah. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller