Image of the Day: A New Paint Scheme for the Space Launch System's Twin Solid Rocket Boosters...

NASA

NASA recently unveiled a new art concept depicting the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in an updated paint scheme as progress continues to be made towards its 2019 launch on Exploration Mission (EM)-1. As mentioned in this previous entry, engineers at Orbital ATK began painting black marks on the SLS' Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) that will be used for photogrammetry...the science of using photography to help measure distances between objects. In the case of EM-1, the black marks will allow engineers on the ground to discern the distance between the SRBs and SLS' core stage upon booster separation during launch. The photogrammetric markings will also be used on components of the Orion spacecraft to analyze the distance between the capsule and the core stage as the spacecraft separates from SLS after reaching Earth orbit.

The black marks are nothing new; the SRBs have been sporting these paint schemes since the days of the space shuttle program.