The shuttle was launched out of Earth's gravity and into space by 3 rocket engines on the back of the orbiter along with help from 2 long white Solid Rocket Boosters (also called SRBs) Fuel for the shuttle was stored in the large, usually orange, External Fuel Tank (also called ET). Before the shuttle reached orbit, the SRBs were released and fell into the Atlantic Ocean where they were towed back to shore for reuse. The ET was also released but broke up and fell into the Indian Ocean and was not reused.