3, 2, 1, FIRE!

NASA scientists made history on March 11 when they successfully fired up the world's largest solid rocket booster in Promontory, Utah.

The Space Launch System 5-segment solid rocket booster illuminated the early morning sky with an ethereal orange blaze, the motor's roar breaking through the silence.

NASA to bring the twin side-mounted boosters for the space launch system to life, Space.com reported. After the booster was ignited at 11:30 a.m. EST, it ran for two minutes.The booster can produce 3.6 million pounds of thrust — that’s the equivalent of 22 million horsepower.

The end game for this technological wonder is to assist the SLS on deep space missions, and according to NASA, these boosters are so powerful, they give more than 75 percent of the thrust the craft needs to escape Earth's gravitational pull.

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Bill Dunford, an eyewitness of the event and a writer for solarsystem.nasa.gov, told The Planetary Society, "At T-0, there was a brilliant, . Flames shot from the booster and a towering cloud of smoke and dust billowed over the hillside. Several full seconds later, the sound finally hit, a low rumbling that grew louder, then quieter, then louder again as the motor executed each phase of the test. The light right at the base of booster's nozzle was literally blinding. The exhaust plume rose hundreds of feet into the air, darkening the entire test area."

Todd May, the SLS program manager, expressed the impact of the event in a NASA press release. "This for SLS and follows years of development. Our partnership with Orbital ATK and more than 500 suppliers across the country is keeping us on the path to building the most power rocket in the world."

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