Did you know that the Solid Rocket Motor casings, in Shuttle Park, were made of carbon fiber composites? During the early 1980’s, NASA and SRB manufacturer, Morton Thiokol, were investigating replacing the steel rocket motor casings with “Filament Wound Cases” to make the Space Shuttle light enough to achieve polar orbit when launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. After the Challenger Accident, NASA halted further development of the composite cases. Though NASA never flew this type of booster on the Shuttle, it is exploring using similar concepts for the Space Launch System.
(Photo Courtesy of Scott Phillips)
