The Solid Rocket Boosters used on the Space Shuttle are the world's largest
solid rockets ever built. They are also the only boosters designed for reuse.
Each SRB is slightly less than 150 ft. long and a little larger than 12 ft. in
diameter. Fully fueled, each SRB weighs 1.3 million pounds, of which 1.1 million
is fuel. The fuel is comprised of Ammonium Perchlorate (Oxidizer, 69.6% by weight), Aluminum (Fuel, 16%),
iron oxide (Catalyst, .04%), a polymer (Binder for substances, 12.04%), and an epoxy to cure
the compounds (1.96%). It is arranged with an 11-pointed star shape running through it for the
gasses to escape.
The SRBs cannot be be ignited unless a pin has been removed from the boosters. The ground crew removes this prior to launch. 5 minutes before launch, the safety is rotated to "armed". The boosters ignite when the main engines reach 90% and no fails are encountered. At about 50 seconds, the boosters power back to prevent stress from building up on the SRB. The Solid Rocket Boosters provide lift for about 150,000 feet (28 miles). At this point they separate from the rocket and continue flying up to 220,000 ft (41 miles), where they begin falling back to earth (apogee). The SRBs parachute into the ocean 141 miles out at sea. The Solid Rocket Boosters have floatation devices, radio beacons, lights, and other items to aid in recovering the rockets. The rockets are found and towed back to florida, where they are pulled from the ocean. The boosters are treated with pure and de-ionized water to prevent salt-water corrosion. They are then sent to Thiokol, were they are re-processed and re-fueled.
This site created by Jeff Jacobson.
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