Height (m):
45.4 (38.2, motor only)
Diameter (m):
3.65
Launch weight (kg):
569 282.6 each
Inert weight (kg):
79 406 each
Number used:
2 fired in parallel
Thrust (newtons):
12 596 736 each
Burn time (sec.):
122.4
Propellant:
Composite made of polybutadiene
acrylic acid acrylonitrile terpolymer binder ammonium
perchorlate, and aluminum powder (TP-H1148)
Recovery system:
1 drogue chute (16.5 m diam.; 430
kg)
3 main chutes (35 m diam.; 2159.6 kg
total)
Contractors:
Thiokol Chemical Corp.: prime
McDonnell Douglas Corp.:
structures
United Space Booster, Inc.: assembly,
recovery
Denver Div., Martin Marietta Corp.:
decelerator subsystem
United Technology Corp.: booster
separation motors
How utilized:
The SRBs were designed to work in
concert with the Shuttle main engine to boost the 75 000
kilogram reusable Shuttle orbiter plus 719 000 kilograms of
liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen stored in the external
tank. At an altitude of 1.24 kilometers after the SRBs had
expended their fuel, the boosters would be jettisoned. Their
fall to the ocean some 250 kilometers from the launch site
would be checked by a parachute system (deceleration 26
meters per second at impact). Thiokol designed the boosters
to be recovered, refurbished, and reused (up to 20 times).
The solid rocket motor was static fired successfully three
times in 1977-78. The first Shuttle launch was scheduled for
the early 1980s.
See also:
Chapter 2.