11/24/2023 0 Comments Space shuttle launch profile![]() The inert weight of each SRB was approximately 200,000 pounds (91 t). The primary propellants were ammonium perchlorate ( oxidizer) and atomized aluminum powder ( fuel), and the total propellant for each solid rocket motor weighed approximately 1,100,000 lb (500 t) (see § Propellant). The two SRBs constituted about 69% of the total lift-off mass. Each SRB weighed approximately 1,300,000 lb (590 t) at launch. The SRBs were the largest solid-propellant motors ever flown and the first of such large rockets designed for reuse. In addition, failure of an individual SRB's thrust output or ability to adhere to the designed performance profile was probably not survivable. Only then could any conceivable set of launch or post-liftoff abort procedures be contemplated. The SRBs committed the shuttle to liftoff and ascent, without the possibility of launch abort, until both motors had fully consumed their propellants and had simultaneously been jettisoned by explosive jettisoning bolts from the remainder of the vehicle. The SRBs helped take the Space Shuttle to an altitude of 28 miles (45 km) and a speed of 3,094 mph (4,979 km/h) along with the main engines. Seventy-five seconds after SRB separation, SRB apogee occurred at an altitude of approximately 220,000 ft (42 mi 67 km) parachutes were then deployed and impact occurred in the ocean approximately 122 nautical miles (226 km) downrange, after which the two SRBs were recovered. They were ignited after the three RS-25 main engines' thrust level was verified. Each booster had a liftoff thrust of approximately 2,800,000 pounds-force (12 MN) at sea level, increasing shortly after liftoff to about 3,300,000 lbf (15 MN). While on the pad, the two SRBs carried the entire weight of the external tank and orbiter and transmitted the weight load through their structure to the mobile launcher platform. The two reusable SRBs provided the main thrust to lift the shuttle off the launch pad and up to an altitude of about 150,000 ft (28 mi 46 km). Overview Static test firing, 1978 Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) separation Recovery also allowed post-flight examination of the boosters, identification of anomalies, and incremental design improvements. The final set of SRBs that launched STS-135 included parts that had flown on 59 previous missions, including STS-1. Over 5,000 parts were refurbished for reuse after each flight. Out of 270 SRBs launched over the Shuttle program, all but four were recovered – those from STS-4 (due to a parachute malfunction) and STS-51-L ( terminated by the range during the Challenger disaster). This contract was subsequently transitioned to United Space Alliance, a limited liability company joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. ![]() The prime contractor for most other components of the SRBs, as well as for the integration of all the components and retrieval of the spent SRBs, was USBI, a subsidiary of Pratt and Whitney. The motor segments of the SRBs were manufactured by Thiokol of Brigham City, Utah, which was later purchased by ATK. With a combined mass of about 1,180 t (1,160 long tons 1,300 short tons), they comprised over half the mass of the Shuttle stack at liftoff. Each Space Shuttle SRB provided a maximum 14.7 N (3.30 lbf) thrust, roughly double the most powerful single- combustion chamber liquid-propellant rocket engine ever flown, the Rocketdyne F-1. The Space Launch System (SLS) SRBs, adapted from the shuttle, surpassed it as the most powerful solid rocket motors ever flown, after the launch of the Artemis-1 mission in 2022. The Space Shuttle SRBs were the most powerful solid rocket motors to ever launch humans. After burnout, they were jettisoned and parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean where they were recovered, examined, refurbished, and reused. A pair of these provided 85% of the Space Shuttle's thrust at liftoff and for the first two minutes of ascent. The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster ( SRB) was the first solid-propellant rocket to be used for primary propulsion on a vehicle used for human spaceflight. United Space Boosters Inc., Pratt and Whitney Two Space Shuttle SRBs on the crawler-transporter
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