| ISD
students participated in an outstanding videoconference with Larry Collins
and Manuel DeLeon from the United Space Alliance at the Cape Canaveral
Air Station. Larry Collins, Senior Dive Supervisor/Diver
Medic, and Engineer/Diver Manuel DeLeon both work multiple jobs on board
the Freedom Star and Liberty Star, the ships that NASA
uses to retrieve the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters (SRB's) from
the ocean after launch. Larry and Manuel spoke to students
from a videoconference room at the Kennedy Space Center. They
answered a variety of questions from the students for over 45 minutes
and at the end of the videoconference, they asked ISD students a few
questions about their experiences in scuba diving.
 
Interpreter
Brian Collins facilitated the communication between Larry, Manuel, and
the students.
ISD
students asked lots of questions and learned alot about SRB retrieval:
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Diver Medics operate the recompression chamber on board each
ship.
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All of the divers have additional jobs, such as being engineers,
technicians, draftsmen, and welders.
-
At the time of retrieval, the SRB's are floating vertically
and extend 110-120 feet deep into the ocean.
-
For equatorial launches, the SRB's land 140 miles east of the
launch site.
-
For International Space Station missions, the SRB's land 140
miles northeast of the
launch site and 90 miles from Jacksonville, Florida.
-
Both SRB's land close to each other, usually within 1-2 miles,
in an ocean depth
of approximately 3300 feet.
- When the weather is good and the ocean is calm, it takes about
4-6 hours to retrieve the boosters. When the weather is
bad and the ocean is rough, they may have to "babysit" the boosters
and wait for a number of days to retrieve them.
- Eight to ten divers are required per booster, but they do more
than dive. They operate small boats, take the parachutes
off of the boosters, bring the parachutes on to the reels onboard
the ship, dive down with the plug, install the 1,200 pound plug
in the SRB, and essentially make up different teams for diving,
retrieval, and towing.
- There are usually 4 or 5 divers in the water at the same time. If the ocean is rough, more divers are added for safety.
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The divers use normal air, but are considering the use of a
Nitrox mixture.
-
Each ship has its own air compressor and volume tanks, as well
as an additional 10,000 cubic feet in addition to the recompression
chamber.
-
The ships leave 24 hours in advance of the launch, which means
most of the divers have never seen a launch.
- The SRB's impact the ocean at about 65 mph. It takes the
ships about an hour to reach the SRB's which have cooled down
by that time, but are still warm to the touch.
-
The ships' top speed is approximately 14 knots.
- Their jobs are interesting, challenging, and physically demanding. When the weather is bad, it is a challenge not to get sea sick.
- The divers use the US Navy Diving Tables for dive planning,
as well as dive computers to serve as a back up to the
tables.
- To be a SRB retrieval diver, candidates must pass a physical
fitness test and a test similar to an FAA flight physical, as
well as have open water scuba certification. Divers are
then trained "on-the-job" in booster retrieval.
- Divers wear wet suits to protect them from pieces of the SRB
which can cut and/or irritate their skin. They also need
the wet suits to protect them from cool air temperatures after
the dive.
-
The ocean water is always clear and warm, even in winter or
bad weather.
-
The Liberty Star always retrieves the right-hand booster and
the Freedom Star always retrieves the left-hand booster.
- There have been only two shuttle launches that divers did not
retrieve the SRB's. During the launch of Mission STS-4,
the parachutes separated from the boosters while they were at
altitude. The SRB's hit the ocean's surface at nearly
the speed of sound (740 mph), causing the SRB's to break up
into pieces. After the Challenger's explosion, the SRB's
were retrieved by submersibles from the bottom of the ocean.
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