STSprog/fut_v_c_o_TPMBK (1975/76, Thiokol Corp. photo, neg. no. 55979-1, 108-KSC-76PC-147 eq)

            “A dramatic moment during the flight of the Space Shuttle will be when the solid rocket boosters separate from the Shuttle at an altitude of 26 miles. The two booster motors have supplied 5,200,000 pounds of thrust during the first two minutes after launch. Nearly 150 feet long and 12 feet in diameter, the massive boosters will tumble majestically earthward until parachutes open to slow their fall. After they splash into the ocean, ships will retrieve the boosters. Disassembled, the rocket motors will be shipped back to Utah, where Thiokol will refurbish and reload the motors with solid propellant, and then return them to the launch site for yet another flight.”

A rare surviving Thiokol depiction of their product. I can see a lot of Thiokol’s SRB promotional images being shelved & discarded after STS-51L…and rightfully so. A striking depiction nonetheless, especially with the orbiter, other than the SSME exhaust plumes, being darkened, thus highlighting the SRBs & ET. I’m also liking the brushed steel look of the orbiter.

On the verso of the NASA appropriated (108-KSC-76PC-147) version of the photograph:

"Boosters, using Thiokol solid rocket motors, eject from space shuttle at conclusion of launch phase."

Eject. Really…”eject”…REALLY??? GOOD GRIEF.

Last but not least, thanks to “Space World” magazine, specifically, Volume. N-12-168, December 1977, with the image being featured on the cover, in color, the artist is identified as Morton-Thiokol’s Donald Osborne, i.e. a WIN.

Taken on: March 28, 2025

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Sets appears in: • Breaking The Bonds & Firsts • Space Transportation System

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