"Scott M. Kozel" wrote in message
...

On Friday, August 12, 2016 at 10:26:07 PM UTC-4, Scott M. Kozel wrote:

How fast was the shuttle moving at SRB separation?

There is a frustrating lack of that data in the many sites that I have
searched.

Thanks,

I found the answer ... about 2,950 mph, see at 2:35 in this video --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aCOyOvOw5c

I would have guessed around 5,000 to 6,000 mph, as it is still a long way
to go to 18,000 mph.

Booster burnout/separation is at 28 miles altitude, probably above 99.9% of
the atmosphere, so maybe that is the key, getting it that high and then
shedding all that weight. The SSME with over 400,000 pounds thrust each,
still provide plenty of thrust.


Yeah, that really was the point of the SRBs, get the thing up and out of as
much of the atmosphere as possible. Once you've done that, then you can take
your time getting to speed.

--
Greg D. Moore http://greenmountainsoftware.wordpress.com/
CEO QuiCR: Quick, Crowdsourced Responses. http://www.quicr.net