This is a night-time static firing of the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) used for the Space Shuttle Missions.

This was a horizontal firing of one four-segment rocket and only the 2nd night test.

The reason for testing at night was to ascertain what can be seen and filmed during a night launch because NASA has a night-launch scheduled in the near future.

This single rocket motor develops approximately 3 million pounds of thrust for 122 seconds.

Spectators were kept approximately two miles from the firing site and when the pressure wave reached us ten seconds after ignition, the noise, roar, pressure and shaking of the ground were quite spectacular...a bit frightening if it was one's first viewing of a static firing.

The force of this motor can be heard & felt up to 35 miles away from the test site and the smoke cloud reaches heights in excess of 20,000 feet which makes daytime tests equally spectacular.

SRB_TEST_NIGHT.jpg