LC-39A Flame Trench (SSME)

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Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) flame trench.
"The flame trench, built with concrete and refractory brick, bisects the pad at ground level. It is 490 feet long, 58 feet wide and 42 feet deep. The flame deflector system includes an inverted, V-shaped steel structure covered with a high-temperature concrete material five inches thick that extends across the center of the flame trench. One side of the "V" receives and deflects the flames from the orbiter main engines; the opposite side deflects the flames from the solid rocket boosters. There are also two movable deflectors at the top of the trench to provide additional protection to shuttle hardware from the solid rocket booster flames."


www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/Flame-trench-...
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Coordinates:   28°36'28"N   80°36'14"W
This article was last modified 13 years ago