I've been a welcomed guest to see 2 shuttle launches as my parents knew one of the Astronauts personally and he was kind enough to extend an invitation. It is awe inspiring to be as close as anyone would really want to be to a shuttle launch. You not only hear the roar of the booster rockets, you feel the rumble of them, and the heat even though you're like 4 miles from the launch pad. It is one of those life experiences I hope never to forget.



The stands you see in the video is where I saw the launches from.


The SRBS (solid rocket boosters) provide the initial power to break gravity's hold on the vessel. Each SRB on it's own contains 450,000 KG of propellant and together they provide 5,300,000 pounds of thrust. Once their propellant is burned off they are jettisoned at approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) altitude and parachute back to Earth landing in the Atlantic Ocean where they are recovered.

The external fuel tank (the big red thing in the middle there) contains 526,126 gallons (1,585,379 pounds) of liquid propellant (Oxygen and Hydrogen). That fuel is used up as the shuttle reaches around 113 kilometers (70 miles) above the Earth. After it is empty, the external tank is jettisoned so that it it burns up on re-entry and what is left falls harmlessly onto the ocean.