[Candor7]

I have seen these solid boosters.They will go the distance before detaching.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2268165/Gok-Wan-reveals-sexy-new-range-Banger-Boosters-shapewear-Simply-Be.html

[NonValueAdded]

Would they have the cojones to point it against the rotation of the erf?

[al baby]

Let’s just hope they don,t screw the pooch

[Rembrandt]

Couldn’t they just grab The Messiah, strap the booster on his back and see how far up he goes? After all, his abiding interest has always been reaching higher than anyone before.

[wjcsux]

Why is NASA doing this? I thought their primary mission was to reach out to Ragheads to help them feel better about themselves.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Old four-segment motor used on Shuttles...

[InABunkerUnderSF]

The 5-segment booster produces 3.6 million lbs of maximum thrust which equates to more than 14 Boeing 747-400s at full takeoff power!

Two more O-Rings to fail and several tonnes more of ammonium perchlorate combustion products dumped into the upper atmosphere on every flight.

Fitting the shuttle with solid boosters was a bad idea back when Mondale, Proxmire, Javits, Bahy and Kennedy forced NASA into financial constraints that virtually mandated solid boosters as a cost saving measure back in the 1970s. Cost: 7 lives.

It was a bad idea then. Still is. SLS is a better design than the shuttle but at the end of the day it's still brittle technology.