NASA recovery ship
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Liberty Star with SRB after STS-87
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| Class overview | |
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| Builders: | Atlantic Marine Shipyard, Fort George Island nr. Jacksonville, Florida |
| Operators: | United Space Alliance |
| Built: | 1980–1981 |
| In commission: | 1981–present |
| Planned: | 2 |
| Active: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | SRB recovery ship |
| Length: | 176 ft (54 m) |
| Beam: | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Range: | 6,000 mi (9,700 km) |
| Boats & landing craft carried: |
Two small boats |
| Capacity: | 1 rocket booster |
| Complement: |
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| Notes: | Towing capacity: 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg) |
 HD video of SRB recovery operations of both ships after the launch of STS-133 on YouTube
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the Freedom Star passing through the Port Canaveral locks on YouTube
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The NASA recovery ships are two ships, the MV Liberty Star and the MV Freedom Star, that were tasked with retrieving spent Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) following the launch of Space Shuttle missions. Although owned by NASA, the ships were operated by Space Flight Operations contractor United Space Alliance. Following the end of the Space Shuttle program, and therefore booster recovery, NASA transferred both vessels to the Department of Transportation.
Both ships were built at Atlantic Marine Shipyard on Fort George Island, Florida, and delivered in January 1981 to their original owner, United Technologies Inc. They are propelled by two main engines providing a total of 2,900 horsepower (2.2 MW), and are capable of towing 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg) each. Two auxiliary engines with jacuzzi-like jets (similar to those found in Naval riverine craft) as well as the extra caution taken by the crew allow the ships to coast up the Banana River without harming the significant manatee population.
All gear on deck, including the 7,500-pound (3,400 kg) deck crane used to lift the booster frustum on deck, compressors for removing seawater from the boosters, winches and reels, bolt on and off to allow the vessels to be used for purposes other than booster recovery such as towing the Pegasus barge from Michoud Assembly Facility.
Communications equipment includes a Kongsberg dynamic position system and joy stick control, X-band and S-band radars for tracking ship traffic and the falling SRBs, global positioning system, handheld VHF radios and GPS units, digital video and recording systems, voice and data satellite communication capability, VHF automatic direction finding, high-frequency single-side band radios, electronic chart plotters, night vision and Sea Area-3 Global Maritime Distress Safety System consoles. To satisfy NASA's need for more observational data during shuttle launches, a Weibel Scientific Continuous Pulse Doppler X-band radar was mounted on MV Liberty Star to provide velocity and motion information about the shuttle and any debris during launch.
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Wikipedia