 Each
ship retrieves one booster. Upon arrival, the team first conducts a visual
assessment of the flight hardware. The main parachutes are the first items
to be brought on board. Their shroud lines are wound onto each of three of
the four reels on the ship’s deck. The drogue parachute, attached to the
frustum, is reeled onto the fourth reel until the frustum is approximately
50 feet astern of the ship. The 5,000-pound (2,268-kilogram) frustum is
then lifted from the water using the ship’s power block and deck crane.
With the chutes and frustum recovered,
attention turns to the SRB. The dive team prepares for booster recovery.
Two small inflatable boats, with eight retrieval divers aboard, are
deployed. The job of the first dive team is to install a Diver-Operated
Plug (DOP) in the nozzle of the booster. The DOP is launched from the ship
and towed to the booster by one of the small boats. An air hose is then
deployed from the ship. Once dive preparations are complete, the dive team
enters the water for DOP insertion. The DOP is 22 feet (6.7 meters) in
length and weighs 1,100 pounds (498 kilograms). It is neutrally buoyant in
water, meaning it neither floats nor sinks, and is easily guided to the
aft skirt at a depth of about 110 feet (33.5 meters) by the divers. A
quick inspection of the nozzle is conducted. The DOP is then inserted into
the booster nozzle. Once the DOP legs are locked in place and the nozzle
sealed, an air hose is attached.
The second team double-checks the aft skirt
and DOP installation to ensure there are no problems. After the second
dive is completed, dewatering operations begin. Air is pumped from the
ship through the DOP and into the booster, displacing water within the
casing. As the process continues, the booster rises in the water until it
becomes top-heavy. It falls horizontally, like a log in the water. Air
pumping continues until all water is expelled from the empty casing.
The final step in the ocean retrieval
procedure is to connect the ship’s tow line. Once the tow connection is
made, the divers return to the ship and the trip to NASA’s Hangar AF on
Cape Canaveral Air Station begins.
The ships enter Port Canaveral, where the
booster is changed from the stern tow position to a position alongside the
ship, the hip tow position, to allow greater control. The ships then pass
through a drawbridge, Canaveral Locks, and transit the Banana River to
Hangar AF.
The boosters are lifted from the water with
Straddle-Lift cranes and placed on rail cars to begin the disassembly and
refurbishment process.
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