CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the NASA Railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a protective cover is being placed over the solid rocket booster, or SRB, segment from the STS-126 launch. The segments will be taken to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused for another launch. After the segments are hydrolased inside, they are placed on flatbed trucks and transferred to the NASA Railroad yard. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segments are lowered onto the car. After being covered for the trip, the segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to Utah. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Location Kennedy Space Center, FL
Date December 17, 2008