MV Freedom Star
Freedom Star returns to port with an SRB after STS-131
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | MV Freedom Star |
| Owner: | NASA |
| Operator: | United Space Alliance |
| Builder: | Atlantic Marine Shipyard, Fort George Island, Florida, U.S. |
| Acquired: | January 1981 |
| In service: | January 1981 |
| Out of service: | September 28, 2012 |
| Homeport: | Port Canaveral, Florida, U.S. |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | Transferred to James River Reserve Fleet |
| History | |
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United States
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| Name: | MV Freedom Star |
| Owner: | U.S. Dept of Transportation |
| Operator: | U.S. Maritime Administration, James River Reserve Fleet |
| Acquired: | September 28, 2012 |
| Homeport: | James River, Virginia, U.S. |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 484 GT, 743 GRT; 239 NT, 222 NRT |
| Displacement: | 1,052 short tons (954 t) |
| Length: | 176 ft (53.6 m) |
| Beam: | 37 ft (11.3 m) |
| Height: | 72 ft (21.9 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Depth: | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Installed power: | 2 × 223 hp (166 kW) Kato generators |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Range: | 6,900 mi (11,100 km) |
| Endurance: | 30 days |
| Capacity: | 24 maximum |
| Complement: |
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| Notes: | Towing capacity: 60,000 lb (27,200 kg) |
MV Freedom Star was a NASA-owned and United Space Alliance-operated vessel which primarily served as an SRB recovery ship following the launch of Space Shuttle missions. It also performed tugboat duties and acted as a research platform. In 2012 it was transferred to the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of the James River Reserve Fleet. Her sister ship is the MV Liberty Star (now TV Kings Pointer).
The recovery ships were built at Atlantic Marine Shipyard on Fort George Island, Florida, and delivered in January 1981 to their original owner, United Technologies Corporation. As well as recovering the Space Shuttle SRB's Freedom Star has since 1998 been used to tow the Space Shuttle external fuel tanks from their assembly plant at Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, Louisiana, to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She served a similar role in recovering the first test flight of the Ares I and was anticipated to continue recovering boosters for the Constellation program before it was canceled in 2010.
Freedom Star underwent special strengthening enhancements to withstand the greater burden of towing the external fuel tanks. The stern was strengthened at critical points, new bulwark fairings were added, and an H-bitt was installed through which cabling is threaded to keep it centered during towing operations. Also installed was a hydraulic towing winch, referred to as a double-drum waterfall winch, holding 2,000 feet (610 m) or more of wire rope on each drum. One drum supports booster retrievals while the other is devoted to external tank towing.
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