Click on image for full size Proposed Space Shuttle Improvements
News story originally written on June 23, 1997 NASA is thinking
of making a major change to the space shuttle...What is this
change? First-stage boosters that fly back to the launch site
unpiloted Two companies, Lockheed Martin and Boeing Company,
will research these new boosters. They will build a model of the
new booster that can be tested. The current solid rocket
boosters (SRB's) are the white boosters attached to the side of
the orange external tank. The SRB's burn out about two minutes
after liftoff and are cast off into the ocean. NASA retrieves
the boosters out of the ocean and fixes them for upcoming
shuttle missions. The new boosters after separating from the
Shuttle would glide for nine minutes. Jet engines would then
start and the SRB's would return to Kennedy Space Center, FL
unpiloted. The boosters would not look much different than
currrent boosters. Other shuttle parts would remain unchanged if
the new SRB's were added. Shop Wind