Part of a spent booster is seen in the background bobbing in the Atlantic Ocean as deck hands on Freedom Star.

Part of a spent booster is seen in the background bobbing in the Atlantic Ocean as deck hands on Freedom Star, one of NASA's solid rocket booster retrieval vessel prepare to recover it after space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 launch.

The shuttle’s 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. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky