Marine Recovery Operations

Photos of maritime activities focusing on retrieval operations for NASA rocket boosters and buoy installations, highlighting maritime safety and technology.

Mozambiue, Nacala. Nacala Port is situated in Bengo Bay, in the north of Mozambique. It is the deepest natural port on the East African Coast, with railway connections to the interior of Mozambique and to Malawi. It has recently become the fifth environmentally certified port in the world. Strategically it has become increasingly important, and arguably more

Bob Ballard Exploration

Light buoys with gas lanterns on deck of a concrete vessel.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Vincent Wassylenko, Coast Guard Cutter Willow buoy deck supervisor (wearing yellow safety hardhat in photo), prepares to set a relief hull in Mayaguez Bay, Puerto Rico Oct. 9, 2022. During Willows eight-day visit to Puerto Rico, crewmembers serviced 23 aids to navigation and performed eight buoy hull reliefs around island ports and navigable waters in Arecibo, Culebra, Guanica, Guayanilla, Ponce, San Juan, Tallaboa, and Vieques. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Diver explores an old shipwreck deep in the ocean, dive site Wreck Le Donator, Giens Peninsula, Mediterranean, Porquerolles, Provence, Côte d'Azur, France

Marine research

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A crew member on Liberty Star, one of NASA's solid rocket booster retrieval ships, uses a crane to haul the right booster nose cap out of the Atlantic Ocean that splashed down after Discovery's final launch.The shuttles two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after every launch by Freedom Star and Liberty Star. The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be refurbished and stored, if needed.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A crew member on Liberty Star, one of NASA's solid rocket booster retrieval ships, uses a crane to haul the right booster nose cap out of the Atlantic Ocean that splashed down after Discovery's final launch.The shuttles two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after every launch by Freedom Star and Liberty Star. The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be refurbished and stored, if needed.

Divers exploring a partly overhanging shipwreck underwater, dive site Wreck Michel C, Giens Peninsula, Mediterranean Sea, Porquerolles, Provence, Côte d'Azur, France

Mozambiue, Nacala. Nacala Port is situated in Bengo Bay, in the north of Mozambique. It is the deepest natural port on the East African Coast, with railway connections to the interior of Mozambique and to Malawi. It has recently become the fifth environmentally certified port in the world. Strategically it has become increasingly important, and arguably more

Ireland, Gas Platform Escape Capsule

110603-N-BA263-012MEDITERRANEAN SEA (June 3, 2011) The U.S. Navy's Deep Submergence Unit releases the U.S. Navy Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System's (SRDRS) Pressurized Rescue Module (PRM), Falcon, to mate with the Portuguese navy submarine SSK Tridente (S 70) during Bold Monarch 2011. Participants and observers from more than 25 countries are taking part in NATO exercise Bold Monarch 2011, the world's largest submarine rescue exercise. This 12-day exercise supports interoperability between all submarine rescue units.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance Recovery Operations divers and personnel aboard the solid rocket booster recovery ship Freedom Star prepare to locate, secure and tow the Ares I-X first stage back to the center following the launch of the flight test mission.Liftoff of the 6-minute flight test was at 11:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 28. This was the first launch from Kennedy's pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program's Saturn rockets were retired. The parts used to make the Ares I-X booster flew on 30 different shuttle missions ranging from STS-29 in 1989 to STS-106 in 2000. The data returned from more than 700 sensors throughout the rocket will be used to refine the design of future launch vehicles and bring NASA one step closer to reaching its exploration goals.

ORION Project-(SPLASH) Structural Passive Landing Attenuation for Survivability of Human Crew (BTA) Boiler Plate Test Article Water Impact Test-PIT Test-2Tested at the Hydro Impact Basin at the Landing and Impact Research Facility (Gantry)

A Vanuatu Police Maritime Wing officer climbs a ladder on a fishing vessel in the Vanuatu Exclusive. Economic Zone, South Pacific Ocean, Feb. 27, 2024. U.S. Coast Guard and Vanuatu Fishery Department and Police Maritime Wing officers are collaborating to conduct fishery boardings, which combats illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the region. Coast Guard

Rusty winch with chains hanging over a calm blue sea, creating a nautical scene in marsa alam, egypt

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a United Space Alliance Recovery Operations worker aboard the solid rocket booster recovery ship Freedom Star prepares to tow the Ares I-X first stage back to the center following the launch of the flight test mission.Liftoff of the 6-minute flight test was at 11:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 28. This was the first launch from Kennedy's pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program's Saturn rockets were retired. The parts used to make the Ares I-X booster flew on 30 different shuttle missions ranging from STS-29 in 1989 to STS-106 in 2000. The data returned from more than 700 sensors throughout the rocket will be used to refine the design of future launch vehicles and bring NASA one step closer to reaching its exploration goals.

Fisherman preparing net reel

Giant iron truss used to lift last block in construction Bandra Worli Sea link at Worli Bombay Mumbai Copyright: xHemangixNakwe/DinodiaxPhotox

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank is outfitted with approximately 89 strain gauges, thermocouples and wiring in preparation for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 17 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011.

A commercial hard hat diver welding a fitting on a section of a wave energy buoy underwater off Oahu, Hawaii; Oahu, Hawaii, United States of America

Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) Seaman Braydon Reasner secures a line of an acoustic buoy to an aft towing-bit during a the retrival of the buoy offshore of Washington, July 15, 2022. University of Washington and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute scientists are scheduled to conduct oceanographic research above the Arctic Circle.

An Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Launch pad on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for September 26 and will send Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer and Russian Flight Engineer Sergei Ryazansky on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Seaman Karin Parker lays out line on the buoy deck of the USCGC Oak (WLM 211) off the coast of Nuuk, Greenland, July 7, 2022. Parker is prior service Navy who has been in the Coast Guard for almost six months. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Diana Sherbs.

Yard workers stand by in small craft tied up alongside the aircraft carrier USS KITTHAWK (CV-63), below, as visitors cross the ship's brow, above. Base: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard State: Washington (WA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

ARQUEOLOGIA ACUATICA. FOTOGRAFIA SUBMARINA EN UN BARCO HUNDIDO.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Crew members in a skiff from Freedom Star, one of NASA's solid rocket booster retrieval ships, attach a hose between the left spent booster and the vessel that will facilitate debris and water clearing and the pumping in of air in so the booster can float horizontally on the water's surface for towing back to Port Canaveral in Florida.The shuttles two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after every launch by Liberty Star and Freedom Star. The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be refurbished and stored, if needed.

Katrina Operations - Venice, Louisiana - 26-HK-361-86. Hurricane Katrina

A sensor-laden buoy is lifted onboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's research vessel Knorr on wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in Woods Hole, Mass. The buoy will be deployed in the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS) which is set to sail on Sept. 6. The NASA-sponsored expedition will sail to the North Atlantic's saltiest spot to get a detailed, 3-D picture of how salt content fluctuates in the ocean's upper layers and how these variations are related to shifts in rainfall patterns around the planet.

The crew casts out the first set of a gillnet in Ugashik Bay, Bristol Bay region, Southwest Alaska, Summer

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution workers load scientific instruments onboard the Institution's research vessel Knorr on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, in Woods Hole, Mass. Knorr is scheduled to depart on Sept. 6 to take part in the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS). The NASA-sponsored expedition will sail to the North Atlantic's saltiest spot to get a detailed, 3-D picture of how salt content fluctuates in the ocean's upper layers and how these variations are related to shifts in rainfall patterns around the planet.

Employees at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center work to maneuver a structural steam beam into place on the A-1 Test Stand on Jan. 13. The beam was one of several needed to form the thrust takeout structure that will support a new thrust measurement system being installed on the stand for future rocket engine testing. Once lifted onto the stand, the beams had to be hoisted into place through the center of the test stand, with only two inches of clearance on each side. The new thrust measurement system represents a state-of-the-art upgrade from the equipment installed more than 40 years ago when the test stand was first constructed.

POLEA PARA RECOGER LAS REDES. Location: PUERTO. Denia. Alicante. SPAIN.

DN-ST-89-08849. Base: Wimbrown 7

Fisherman Work on Deck Bad Weather Bering Sea AK /nOpilio Crab Season F/V Erla N

DN-ST-89-02951. Country: Unknown

A diver of Underwater Construction Team 2 (UCT-2) uses an underwater impact wrench to tighten bolts on installed split pipe used to protect cable on the ocean floor. UCT-2, of Port Hueneme, California, is repairing cable off the coast of the island. Base: San Clemente Island State: California(CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

001007-N-1523C-099. Subject Operation/Series: PACIFIC REACH 2000 Base: Mv Kendrick Country: Singapore (SGP)

Africa, Spain, Canary Islands, Tenerife, Santa Cruz. Boat worker tying off a mooring rope.

The porridge (Poisson Auto Propulsé) aboard a mine hunter of the Alkmaar class.

A brown booby sits on the Fish Aggregating Device (F.A.D.) buoy off the Southwest side of Lanai, Hawaii. A second NOAA buoy tethered to this, sends da...

Light buoy (skirt model) with gas lantern on deck of a concrete vessel.

Russian ship harvesting Krill (Euphausia superba), Arctic

Boat anchor winch pulley and rope. Prop wash foam and evening sun reflexion

Slysavarnarfélagið Landsbjörg, Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR, rescue training in Reykjavík, Maritime Safety and Survival Training Centre (MSSTC), Training on liferaft handling

DN-SC-86-08609. Base: Los Angeles State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Gas light buoy. If B strikes the banjaard on the trench, then the concrete vessel on the left is the French nerbout (BJ. 1989).

A860806 U12N MIDDLE NOTE FAC DELIVERY STALLER (Project Engineer) MAR 12 86 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 3/12/1986 EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; FAC DELIVERY; FAC LOADING; FLATBED; MIDDLE NOTE; MIDDLE NOTE NUCLEAR TEST; MIDDLE NOTE TEST; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; STALLER, GEORGE; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; U12N; U12N MIDDLE NOTE; UNDERGROUND; WEAPONS RELATED historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Commercial hard hat diverwelding a massive wave energy buoy off Kaneoho Bay, Oahu. The 40-kW experimental buoy, employs the bobbing motion of the buoy...

010808-N-0715P-009. Base: Dsv Rockwater 2

DN-ST-89-02946. Country: Unknown

ORION Project-(SPLASH) Structural Passive Landing Attenuation for Survivability of Human Crew (BTA) Boiler Plate Test Article Water Impact Test-PIT Test-2Tested at the Hydro Impact Basin at the Landing and Impact Research Facility (Gantry)

As part of Underway Recovery Test 6, the Orion test article is intentionally subjected to an increased sea state as the NASA Recovery Team works hard to keep control of the spacecraft. The testing with Kennedy Space Center's NASA Recovery Team and the U.S. Navy will provide important data that is being used to improve recovery procedures and hardware ahead of Orion's next flight, Exploration Mission-1, when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.

A view of the Coil Tube Drilling Unit as workers lower it into the sea, from the deck of the Bahamian, Multi-purpose Diving Support Vessel (DSV) "Rockwater 2", during the Ehime Maru recovery operations. (Substandard image). Base: Dsv Rockwater 2

A member of Underwater Construction Team 2 of Port Hueneme, California, enters the water in a Mark 21 surface-supplied diving suit to install split pipe on an underwater cable system off the coast of the island. Base: San Clemente Island State: California(CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Wooden fishing platform near coast of Sumatra, Indonesia

A man working on the maintenance of the world's longest cable-stayed suspended deck bridge near Patras, Greece.

Group dive at the Superior Producer site. Superior Producer, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. . . .

Rope ladder hanging on a rusty container ship, Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Flaschenzug Dangast - Hoist Dangast Flaschenzug Dangast - Hoist Dangast Copyright: xZoonar.com/lantapixx 5750601

A diver explores the wheelhouse on a wreck of a fishing boat, Lembeh Strait, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

To ensure port security and safety of both the port and mariners, U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guams marine inspectors observe an abandon ship drill aboard the 370-foot Tuvalu-flagged motor vessel Kenyo during a port state control exam in the Port of Guam on Oct. 19 and 20, 2022. This was the Kenyos first visit to a U.S. port meaning it must be assessed prior to departure. Port state control is the inspection of foreign-flagged ships in national ports to verify that the ship's material condition and equipment comply with domestic and international security, safety, and environmental standards and that the ship is crewed and operated in compliance with these rules.

Anchoring system in the Mediterranean non-destructive France

DN-SN-89-03556. Country: Unknown

Blue fishing nets or trawl hanging from ship Large fishing boat in Coffs Harbour with blue netting fishing nets hanging to dry from back of the ship Copyright: xZoonar.com/StevexHeapx 5507418

Fishermen on a side trawler hauling the net inboard, Breioafjoerour, Iceland, Europe

DN-SC-87-06532. Country: Unknown

University of Washingtons Applied Physics Lab and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute scientists and Healy crewmembers conduct a risk assessment prior to beginning the mornings evolutions offshore of Washington, July 12, 2022. The Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) is underway testing complex science equipment as part of the Arctic Mobile Observation System (AMOS) mission.

In a mine sweeping flotal, the mine hunter harvest. Drunen (EX-MSC 181, 1956-1984, employed as a mine hunter since 1970) in Kiellinie with an antinal other mines of mine.

ArcticNet scientist deploys a bongo net, another fine mesh zooplankton tow net, used to pull up and study benthic organisms, aboard the CCGS Amundsen, Northwest Passage, Nunavut Territory, Canada

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Crew members on board Liberty Star, one of NASA's solid rocket booster retrieval ships, haul in the massive parachute from the right spent booster from space shuttle Discovery's final launch. The shuttle's two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after every launch by Freedom Star and Liberty Star. The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be refurbished and stored, if needed.

Visit of Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and aides to the Louisiana coast for Shell Oil briefing on offshore energy production, tour of offshore platform, fly-over of New Orleans and surrounding areas. Joining the Interior delegation for the offshore tour were Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and Congressman Bobby Jindal.

Maintenance of buoy Mg 4 (Molengat 4) on board the blockage vessel Breevertien (1973-1980) of the pilotage.

Fisherman with fish basket on fishing boat above and fish shoal below surface of water, Crucifixion Point, Pantar Island, Alor Archipelago, Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia, November

Office of the Administrator - China - EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai , Environmental Protection Agency

Construction worker holding chain

A member of Underwater Construction Team Two (UCT-2) drills holes in the coral bed next to the underwater cable so that clamps can be placed for stabilization in work being carried out at the Pacific Missile Range Facility off Kauai, Hawaii. Country: Pacific Ocean (POC)

Rusty Mechanism Rusty Mechanism for Launching Boats into the Water in a Harbor on the Atlantic Coast of Portugal Copyright: xZoonar.com/gkunax 7790362

Aftermath - Salvage Operations - Empire, Louisiana - 26-HK-33-24. crane lifting vessel from pile of boats along waterfront with personnel in foreground, time stamped 7 114pm. Hurricane Katrina

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District is working on the Cleveland West Breakwater in efforts to repair the east extension of the breakwater from damage caused by age and storms on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, July 8, 2022. The breakwaters ensure safe navigation for commercial and recreational vessels travelling on the Great Lakes and the Cuyahoga River.

Old red metal windmill

Visit of Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and aides to the Louisiana coast for Shell Oil briefing on offshore energy production, tour of offshore platform, fly-over of New Orleans and surrounding areas. Joining the Interior delegation for the offshore tour were Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and Congressman Bobby Jindal.

Two divers of Underwater Construction Team 2 (UCT-2) use an underwater hydraulic impact drill to stablize a cable to a rock head on the ocean floor. UCT-2, of Port Hueneme, California, is repairing underwater cable off the coast of the island. Base: San Clemente Island State: California(CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

PEARL HARBOR (March 18, 2013) Builder 2nd Class Khiaro Promise from Construction Dive Detachment Alpha, part of Underwater Construction Team (UCT) 2 out of Port Hueneme, Calif., removes a wood form during a structural pile restoration at the Hotel piers on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The Underwater Construction Team provides a capability for construction, inspection, repair, and maintenance of ocean facilities in support of Naval and Marine Corps operations.

A man tends Grouper holding pens, destined for the live fish trade to Hong Kong. Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia, May 2007

Aerial view of a fishing vessel dragging a large net through the turquoise waters, creating a swirling pattern visible from above, Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen, Vietnam.

Fishing port, Punta Umbria, Huelva province, Region of Andalusia, Spain, Europe.

A diver explores the wheelhouse on a wreck of a fishing boat, Lembeh Strait, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Commercial drift net fishermen setting the net from the rear of the boat, Dillingham, Alaska

A diver of Underwater Construction Team 2 uses and underwater impact wrench to tighten bolts on installed split pipe used to protect cable on the ocean floor. UCT-2, of Port Hueneme, California, is repairing cable off the coast of the island. Base: San Clemente Island State: California(CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

diver inspecting underwater structure for coral growth near Koh Tao

Low angle view of crane at ocean coast

HELHEIM GLACIER (Aug. 16, 2012) A researcher from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I., prepares an autonomous underwater vehicle during an expedition to the Helheim Glacier on the east coast of Greenland to perform mapping and gather oceanographic data.

Longshoremen Signaling To Raise Crates Of Plywood Out Of Ships Cargo Hold

Tech diver with special equipment in shipwreck, diving, Mediterranean Sea, Gozo, Malta, Europe

ORION Project-(SPLASH) Structural Passive Landing Attenuation for Survivability of Human Crew (BTA) Boiler Plate Test Article Water Impact Test-P1T#2 Tested at the Hydro Impact Basin at the Landing and Impact Research Facility (Gantry)

Two maintenace men work on a wind turbine in northern Poland near Kobylnica during the winter.

Electric pool cleaner, pool cleaner, pool cleaner, pool cleaning, pool vacuum cleaner, pool robot

Dock workers load supplies onto the amphibious cargo ship USS DURHAM (LKA 114). Base: Naval Station, Subic Bay State: Luzon Country: Philippines(PHL)

The crew from Coast Guard Cutter Marcus Hanna, pull the chain to inspect the shackle and splint key connecting the sinker to the chain of the buoy July 26, 2022. The team's mission is to service, inspect, and replace navigational aids in the Northeast that may be due for maintenance, have been displaced, damaged, or are at the end of its hull life. USCGC Marcus Hanna is responsible for a total of 376 aids to navigation.

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