Did you know…?
At liftoff, the Space Shuttle weighs as much as 1,000 Statues of Liberty.
The Space Shuttle system is made up of three parts: The solid rocket boosters (the two long silver rockets on either side), the external tank (the large rust-colored rocket in the middle), and the orbiter (the actual spacecraft that holds the astronauts). At liftoff, the Space Shuttle system weighs 4.5 million pounds. The orbiter is the lightest of the components, at about 115,000 pounds. The solid rocket boosters, when filled with propellant, weigh 2.6 million pounds, and the external tank, when full, weighs 1.7 million pounds.
The total weight of the system is equivalent to 1,000 Statues of Liberty, and almost the same weight as the entire Empire State Building.
Did you also know…?
- Science & Nature
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