Orbiter: Columbia
Shuttle Mission: STS-109
Date: March 1, 2002

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (File footage) -- NASA ships Liberty Star and Freedom Star depart Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for the Atlantic Ocean the day before launch. After a Shuttle is launched, the SRBs are jettisoned at two minutes, seven seconds into the flight. At six minutes and 44 seconds after liftoff, the spent SRBs, weighing about 165,000 lb., have slowed their descent speed to about 62 mph and splashdown takes place in a predetermined area. They are retrieved from the Atlantic Ocean and returned for refurbishment and eventual reuse on future Shuttle flights. Once at Hangar AF, the SRBs are unloaded onto a hoisting slip and mobile gantry cranes lift them onto tracked dollies where they are safed and undergo their first washing.

STS-109 photos are online. (Note: This is a graphic-intensive site and may be difficult to view with low speed modems or when this web site receives heavy traffic loads).

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