Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

NASA modified two Boeing 747 wide-body jumbo jets that were used as Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) to ferry orbiters back to the Kennedy Space Center after landing for post-flight servicing and also to and from other locations and centers. The two SCAs were under operational control of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

SCA/SRB Oral Histories

The NASA History Office gathers first-hand experiences through oral history interviews from a variety of individuals serving in the NASA and contractor work force, eliciting details of procedures, processes, methodologies, rationale, and background of operations.

The following interviews, captured at the end of the Space Shuttle Program, were an attempt to document the experiences of personnel working with the Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and the Solid Rocket Booster Retrieval Ships programs.

Titles listed reflect the positions that the subject held while involved with the program.

Name	Interview Date	Titles
Arthur C. Beall	4/16/12	SCA Pilot
Joseph P. Chaput	7/13/11	Manager, Marine Operations, Kennedy Space Center, FL
Larry F. Collins	4/10/12	SRB Recovery Team, Dive Supervisor
Manny DeLeon	4/10/12	SRB Recovery Team
Ronald E. Feile	4/12/12	Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) Lead Air Traffic Controller, SLF Operations Coordinator
John C. Fischbeck	4/11/12	SRB Recovery Team
David S. Fraine	4/10/12	SRB Recovery Team, Master of Freedom Star
Thomas R. Friers	4/13/12	Chief, Flight Operations, Kennedy Space Center, FL
Roberto E. Galinanes	4/17/12	SCA, Mate/Demate Crane Operations
Arvid C. Knutson	4/13/12	SCA, Mechanic
John W. Kiker	5/5/1999 5/12/1999 (SCA development)	Chief, Mechanisms Branch, Spacecraft Design Division, Engineering and Development Directorate
Larry R. LaRose	4/12/12	SCA Flight Engineer
Jeffrey L. Moultrie	4/12/12	SCA Pilot
John A. Mullen	4/11/12	SRB Recovery Team
Donald J. Swem	4/17/12	SCA, Mate/Demate Crane Operations
Richard P. Tubridy	4/10/12	SRB Recovery Team

SRB Retrieval Ships

To make space shuttle launches as economical as possible, the reuse of flight hardware was crucial. Unlike rocket boosters previously used in the space program, the space shuttle’s solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware were recovered at sea. The expended boosters were disassembled, refurbished and reloaded with solid propellant for reuse. The two retrieval ships which performed the booster recovery, the Liberty Star and Freedom Star, were unique vessels specifically designed and constructed for this task. Owned by NASA, the Freedom Star and Liberty Star were built near Jacksonville, Florida., at the Atlantic Marine Shipyard on Fort George Island in 1980.