David.Smith@CMU-10A@sri-unix (06/09/82)
From: David.Smith at CMU-10A (C410DS30) (From FLIGHT International, 5 June 1982) The parachutes which braked the fall of spent Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) during the first Space Shuttle flight are to fly next on the fifth mission, due in November. SRB nosecones from the first flight will fly again on mission six, and aft skirts on mission seven. Lastly, the SRB main casings will be reused on the eighth mission. Nasa plans to use SRBs from the second and third Shuttle flights in a similar pattern--parachutes from mission two on mission six, and so on. Each parachute system is intended to last ten flights, and the rest of the SRBs will last for 20 flights. At this early stage, many of the SRB elements are being refurbished by the manufacturers. But eventually United Space Boosters will do most of the work at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The motor casings will be refilled with solid propellant by Thiokol.