Sorry I figured the price wouldn't be as high if none of the boosters were reused. but dang I had no idea! and I see how that works, but the parts blast away and burn up right? So none of it would be reusable or am I wrong?
The solid rocket boosters don't go high enough to attain orbit, they fall into the ocean, the casing is recovered and rebuilt by Thiokol. The external fuel tank goes higher, but still falls in the ocean, they break up on impact and cannot be reused.
The expensive part is the shuttle itself, even though it is reused, it takes tons of preparation and maintenance between each mission. It served it's purpose well, just wish something was coming down the pipe to replace it. Without it, there is nothing that can get massive stuff like Hubble and the ISS components into orbit.
In a related story Texans are ticked off they they aren't getting one of the shuttles, in spite of mission control in being in Houston.
