An Overview Of SRBs And Their Application In A Shuttle Launch

3 Pages 821 Words

Have you ever seen a spaceship before launch? If you so I’m sure you have noticed the two cylindrical objects with the cone tops mounted on the side of the space shuttle. Those are Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). SRBs are very useful to do many tasks. Not only does NASA use the technology of SRBs, they are used every where, even a long time ago. Did you know that SRBs were the first engines created by man? They were invented hundreds of years ago in China and have been used ever since. Even in the National Anthem the line about "the rocket's red glare" is talking about small military SRBs.
Let’s have a look at how these SRBs got to be so useful and how they are made. The idea behind a simple SRB is straight forward. What you want to do is create something that burns very quickly but does not explode. As you are probably aware, gunpowder explodes. It is because of there innate properties SRBs are very safe, with a low cost to produce and relatively simple. In a small model rocket engine or in a tiny bottle rocket the burn might last a second or less. In a Space Shuttle SRB containing over a million pounds of fuel, the burn lasts about two minutes. Also since it is a chemical reaction there is no way of stopping it from burning once it has started.
The composition of most common SRBs are a combination of: ammonium perchlorate (oxidizer, 69.6 percent by weight), aluminum (fuel, 16 percent), iron oxide (a catalyst, 0.4 percent), a polymer (a binder that holds the mixture together, 12.04 percent), and an epoxy curing agent (1.96 percent). Along with the main load of fuel the space shuttle SRBs have an onboard recovery system, parachutes, floatation devices, signaling devices, and explosive charges for separation.
The SRBs mentioned above provide most of the thrust (71 percent) needed to lift the space shuttle off the launch pad. This seems like an easy task, but it’s not easy getting something that big off earth. Letâ...