Can a space shuttle fly on its own without the guide of booster rockets?
Ok, first of no the space shuttle cannot fly without its Solid Rocket Boosters. One SRB will produce 11.787 MegaNewtons of force, more than one orbiter main engine which produces 1.78MegaNewtons. The mass of the space shuttle (excluding payload) is 2,029,203 kg and its weight is 19,886,189.4 Newtons (mass of the space shuttle * force of gravity with is 9.8N). If the Space Shuttle didn’t have its 2 booster rockets, the total thrust of the 3 Main Engines of the space shuttle will be about 5.34MegaNewtons (1.78MegaNewtons for 1 SSME). In order for the Space Shuttle to lift off the pad, it will need thrust that is greater than 19,886,189.4 Newtons, so: 5,340,000 Newtons (thrust of 3 SSME) – 8,328,638.52 Newtons(Weight of Space Shuttle excluding the weight of the 2 SRB) = -2,988,636.52 Newtons So the Space Shuttle will need about 2.99 MegaNewtons and more thrust to lift of the pad. That’s where the SRB come in which deliver together, 23,574,000 Newtons of thrust (1 SRB delivers 11.787 MegaN
