Science  People  Locations  Timeline
Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Home > Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster


 

1 General

The two reusable Solid Rocket Boosters or SRBs provide the main thrust to lift the Space Shuttle off the pad and up to an altitude of about 150,000 feet (45.7 km). In addition, the two SRBs carry the entire weight of the external tank and orbiter and transmit the weight load through their structure to the mobile launcher platform . Each booster has a thrust (sea level) of approximately 3,300,000 lbf (14.7 MN) at launch. They are ignited after the three space shuttle main engines' thrust level is verified. The two SRBs provide 71.4 percent of the thrust at lift-off and during first-stage ascent. Seventy five seconds after SRB separation, SRB apogee occurs at an altitude of approximately 220,000 feet (67 km), after which they land on parachutes; impact occurs in the ocean approximately 122 nautical miles (226 km) downrange, after which the two are recovered.

The SRBs are the largest solid-propellant motors ever flown and the first designed for reuse. Each is 149.16 feet (45.5 m) long and 12.17 feet (3.7 m) in diameter.

Each SRB weighs approximately 1,300,000 pounds (590,000 kg) at launch. Thus together they have a mass of 60 % of the total lift-off mass. The propellant for each solid rocket motor weighs approximately 1,100,000 pounds (499,000 kg). The inert weight of each SRB is approximately 192,000 pounds (87,000 kg).

Primary elements of each booster are the motor (including case, propellant, igniter and nozzle), structure, separation systems, operational flight instrumentation, recovery avionics, pyrotechnics, deceleration system, thrust vector control system and range safety destruct system.

Each booster is attached to the external tank at the SRB's aft frame by two lateral sway braces and a diagonal attachment. The forward end of each SRB is attached to the external tank at the forward end of the SRB's forward skirt. On the launch pad, each booster also is attached to the mobile launcher platform at the aft skirt by four bolts and nuts that are severed by small explosives at lift-off.

The Challenger accident originated from one of the SRBs. During the downtime following it, detailed structural analyses were performed on critical structural elements of the SRB. Analyses were primarily focused in areas where anomalies had been noted during postflight inspection of recovered hardware.

One of the areas was the attach ring where the SRBs are connected to the external tank. Areas of distress were noted in some of the fasteners where the ring attaches to the SRB motor case. This situation was attributed to the high loads encountered during water impact. To correct the situation and ensure higher strength margins during ascent, the attach ring was redesigned to encircle the motor case completely (360 degrees). Previously, the attach ring formed a C and encircled the motor case 270 degrees.

Additionally, special structural tests were performed on the aft skirt. During this test program, an anomaly occurred in a critical weld between the hold-down post and skin of the skirt. A redesign was implemented to add reinforcement brackets and fittings in the aft ring of the skirt.

These two modifications added approximately 450 pounds (204 kg) to the weight of each SRB.

The propellant mixture in each SRB motor consists of an ammonium perchlorate ( oxidizer, 69.6 percent by weight), aluminum ( fuelFuel is material with potential energy which can be transferred into kinetic energy, or as heat or mechanical work. In most cases this is just something that will burn. There are many different types of fuel. Solid fuels include coal, wood and peat. All t, 16 percent), iron oxideThere are a number of iron oxides Iron oxides Iron (II) oxide or ferrous oxide (FeO) The black- coloured powder in particular can cause explosions as it readily ignites. Iron (III) oxide or ferric oxide (FeO) known in its natural state as hematite or haem (a catalystEnthalpy profile for catalysed and uncatalysed reactions. A is the activation energy for an uncatalysed reaction, A is the reduced activation energy for the same reaction when catalysed. I represents the point at which a chemical intermediate has been for, 0.4 percent), a polymerA polymer is a long, repeating chain of atoms, formed through the linkage of many molecules called monomers. The monomers can be identical, or in complex polymers such as proteins the monomers have one or more substituted chemical groups, this gives them (a binder that holds the mixture together, 12.04 percent), and an epoxyEpoxy or polyepoxide is an epoxide polymer that cures when mixed with a catalyzing agent or "hardener". The material was developed by I. Farben Industrie of Germany in 1939, and is used for coatings, adhesives and composite materials like glass-reinforced curing agent (1.96 percent). The propellant is an 11-point starFor alternate meanings see star (disambiguation Hubble Space Telescope of the Sagittarius Star Cloud in the Milky Way Galaxy. A star is any massive gaseous celestial body in outer space. Stars appear as shining points in the nighttime sky that twinkle bec- shaped perforation in the forward motor segment and a double- truncated- cone perforation in each of the aft segments and aft closure. This configuration provides high thrust at ignition and then reduces the thrust by approximately a third 50 seconds after lift-off to prevent overstressing the vehicle during maximum dynamic pressure.

The SRBs are used as matched pairs and each is made up of four solid rocket motor segments. The pairs are matched by loading each of the four motor segments in pairs from the same batches of propellant ingredients to minimize any thrust imbalance. The segmented-casing design assures maximum flexibility in fabrication and ease of transportation and handling. Each segment is shipped to the launch site on a heavy- duty rail car with a specially built cover.

The nozzle expansion ratio of each booster beginning with the STS-8 mission is 7-to-79. The nozzle is gimbaled for thrust vector (direction) control. Each SRB has its own redundant auxiliary power units and hydraulic pump s. The all-axis gimbaling capability is 8 degrees. Each nozzle has a carbon cloth liner that erodes and chars during firing. The nozzle is a convergent divergent , movable design in which an aft pivot- point flexible bearing is the gimbal mechanism.

The cone-shaped aft skirt reacts the aft loads between the SRB and the mobile launcher platform. The four aft separation motors are mounted on the skirt. The aft section contains avionics, a thrust vector control system that consists of two auxiliary power units and hydraulic pumps, hydraulic systems and a nozzle extension jettison system.

The forward section of each booster contains avionics, a sequencer, forward separation motors, a nose cone separation system, drogue and main parachutes, a recovery beacon, a recovery light, a parachute camera on selected flights and a range safety system.

Each SRB has two integrated electronic assemblies, one forward and one aft. After burnout, the forward assembly initiates the release of the nose cap and frustum and turns on the recovery aids. The aft assembly, mounted in the external tank/SRB attach ring, connects with the forward assembly and the orbiter avionics systems for SRB ignition commands and nozzle thrust vector control. Each integrated electronic assembly has a multiplexer/ demultiplexer, which sends or receives more than one message, signal or unit of information on a single communication channel.

Eight booster separation motors (four in the nose frustum and four in the aft skirt) of each SRB thrust for 1.02 seconds at SRB separation from the external tank. Each solid rocket separation motor is 31.1 inches (790 mm) long and 12.8 inches (325 mm) in diameter.

Location aids are provided for each SRB, frustum/drogue chutes and main parachutes. These include a transmitter, antenna, strobe/converter, battery and salt water switch electronics. The location aids are designed for a minimum operating life of 72 hours and when refurbished are considered usable up to 20 times. The flashing light is an exception. It has an operating life of 280 hours. The battery is used only once.

The SRB nose caps and nozzle extensions are not recovered.

The recovery crew retrieves the SRBs, frustum/drogue chutes, and the main parachutes. The nozzles are plugged, the water is drained from the solid rocket motors, and the SRBs are towed back to the launch site. Each booster is removed from the water, and its components are disassembled and washed with fresh and deionized water to limit salt water corrosion. The motor segments, igniter and nozzle are shipped back to Thiokol for refurbishment.

Each SRB incorporates a range safety system that includes a battery power source, receiver/decoder, antennas and ordnance.



Read more »

Non User