NASA Space Shuttle Service Ship MV Liberty Star Embarks on a New Mission

Credit: NASA

For 30 years MV Liberty Star, a sea ship owned by NASA, served the Space Shuttle program.

It retrieved the spent solid rocket boosters after their splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

It also towed the space shuttles' external fuel tanks from their assembly facility in New Orleans to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

At the end of August, NASA signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) transferring the ship to the U.S. Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration (MARAD).

In the middle of September, it will be included into the National Defense Reserve Fleet and used for training at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) at Kings Point.

Robert Lightfoot, a NASA associate administrator commented on this event in a statement: “Liberty Star served NASA well during the space shuttle program,” he said.

“We know it will greatly benefit the Kings Point midshipmen, and we’re proud that Liberty Star will continue to serve the United States with distinction.”

 Credit: MARAD