Ten years ago, on 8 July 2011, two, four-segment Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) came to life on LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center, propelling the orbiter Atlantis and her four person crew upwards toward space on the 135th and final Space Shuttle mission.
It marked the 269th and 270th flight firings of an SRB for the Shuttle program and the 265th and 266th and final recoveries of the iconic rocket motors, which always flew in pairs — not just in terms of a full booster stack but for each individual motor segment as well that was paired with a “propellant twin” upon casting in Utah.