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Image: A Thiokol worker smooths the liner inside the steel casing of an RSRM segment. Insulation is then added and propellant poured.
Image: Equipment to mix fuel, oxidizer, and binder into solid propellant uses designs borrowed from the baking industry.
Image: The SRB forward assembly, consisting of the nose cap, frustum and forward skirt, is joined to the RSRM forward segment at Kennedy.
Image: At the instant of ignition, nuts on each of the SRBs four hold-down bolts are exploded, freeing the shuttle from the launch platform. A large sand bucket captures the bolts as they snap downward.
The speed of the SRBs causes them to coast upward for 13 miles before beginning their fall into the ocean.
Image: Three 136-foot diameter parachutes slow the SRBs to a safe splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. The boosters coast upward to a 41 mile altitude, then parachute back to the Atlantic Ocean about 140 miles from the launch site.
Image: The SRBs are towed from the splashdown site back to Kennedy, where they are prepared to be used again.
Image: A device called a "hydrolaser," spraying water at 17,000 pounds per squares inch, strips insulation from the boosters as part of the refurbishment process.
Photo credits: NASA/MSFC