That’s a beautiful image - thanks for posting it, SunkenCiv!
Next test flight in, oh, 3/4 years. Manned(personed?) flight in 7. Yeah, we’re rocketing into the future. Well, except for maybe the splash down in the liquid ice. Too bad Sierra Nevada Corp didn’t make the cut but instead NASA went with their old standby pals from years past. Regardless, I used to love watching the orbiters launch. Awesome sight and sound. Especially if you happened to be near the VAB at KSC. Real chest pounder.
My pleasure. Too bad NASA won’t be using this launch system when they actually start using Orion for manned launches. The SLS will use four (they say two at first, but that won’t get it done) solid rocket boosters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System#Shuttle-derived_solid_rocket_boosters
Blocks I and IB of the SLS will use modified Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), extended from four segments to five segments. Unlike the Space Shuttle boosters, these will not be recovered and will sink into the Atlantic Ocean downrange.[24] Alliant Techsystems (ATK), the builder of the Space Shuttle SRBs, has completed three full-scale, full-duration static tests of the five-segment rocket booster. Development motor (DM-1) was successfully tested on September 10, 2009; DM-2 on August 31, 2010 and DM-3 on September 8, 2011. For DM-2 the motor was cooled to a core temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), and for DM-3 it was heated to above 90 °F (32 °C). In addition to other objectives, these tests validated motor performance at extreme temperatures.[25][26][27] Each five-segment SRB has a thrust of 3,600,000 lbf (16 MN) at sea level.