A remote, unmanned dewatering system for recovery of the solid rocket boosters of the space shuttle program

This paper will present a summary of past CURV III operations such as: environmental surveys at the Farallon Islands, recovery of the Radioisotopic Thermoelectric Generator from the San Juan Seamount, and the survey of the ore ship EDMUND J. FITZGERALD sunk in Lake Superior. These experiences utilizing an unmanned, remote work system, provided the background and expertise to propose and successfully build an unmanned system for the John F. Kennedy Space Center in support of retrieving the Solid Rocket Boosters used to launch the Space Shuttle Vehicle. The Dewatering System Mission is to dewater a spent Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) casing (12 foot in diameter by approximately 130 feet long), which floats nearly vertical after impact so that it re-orients to the horizontal and may be towed to port for refurbishment and reuse. The paper will describe the design, fabrication and testing of the Prototype System.