Space Shuttle Hold Down Bolt
I had always wondered how the Space Shuttle was held down on the pad before liftoff. It was bolted! With eight stainless steel bolt weighing 110 lbs each.
The two solid rocket boosters, SRBs, were bolted to the launch pad with four bolts each. The nuts, weighing 16 lbs, were “frangible” in that they would be blown apart and off all eight bolts allowing the shuttle to shed the earthly realm.
The two halves of the nuts were given out the various crew members and others involved in the mission.
The price of each of these bolts was estimated to be about $10,000.
When I was expecting this in the mail, I get a call from the delivery man asking me if there was anything breakable in this really heavy package he had for me as it apparently was damaged slightly in the truck. I told him that the object was perhaps the most unbreakable things he’d ever had to deliver. A little later when he arrives he asked me what was in it. I opened up the box and showed it to him. His response? “That’s so cool!” Then he took some pictures to show his family.
Top Photo: ©2020 by Mike Smithwick
That is an iPhone SE for scale