August 1985
From The Space Library
NASA announced that the newest solid-fuel rocket booster retrieval ship, the U.S. Air Force's Independence, arrived at Kennedy Space Center for outfitting with retrieval gear. The Air Force specifically designed the ship for retrieval of expended boosters after Space Shuttle launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Independence would be the mother ship for west coast booster retrievals, towing one of the boosters and providing room for the majority of the crew and the six main parachutes and the bottoms for both boosters. The ship's first booster retrieval would be mission 51-F set for launch no earlier than July 15. The Air Force would lease another smaller ship to tow the other booster and carry the remainder of the 42-member retrieval crew.
Independence, at 199 feet long and with a beam of 40 feet, was larger than its sister retrieval ships, the Liberty Star and the Freedom Star. Those two ships were 176 feet long and had beams of 37 feet. The Independence has both fore and aft water jet thrusters, making it highly maneuverable. The other two ships had only stern thrusters. Halter Marine in Moss Point, Mississippi, built Independence. (NASA Activities, Aug 85, 11)
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