The Freedom Star approaches the dock at Hangar AF with a solid rocket booster alongside.

The Freedom Star, one of NASA's solid rocket booster retrieval ships, approaches the dock at Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with a solid rocket booster alongside. The booster is from space shuttle Endeavour, which launched the STS-123 mission on March 11. The space shuttle’s solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered at sea. The boosters impact the Atlantic Ocean approximately seven minutes after liftoff. The splashdown area is a square of about 6 by 9 nautical miles located about 140 nautical miles downrange from the launch pad. The retrieval ships are stationed approximately 8 to 10 nautical miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. As soon as the boosters enter the water, the ships accelerate to a speed of 15 knots and quickly close on the boosters, which they tow back to port. At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the expended boosters are disassembled, refurbished and reloaded with solid propellant for reuse. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller