[MilCom] This might be interesting if we can find some comms.

[Greg Brazil]

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By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Christopher A. Veloicaza, USS 
Anchorage Public Affairs

PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship 
USS Anchorage (LPD 23) departed from Naval Base San Diego to retrieve 
NASA equipment in the Pacific Ocean, Dec. 1.

Anchorage will use its amphibious capabilities to conduct an at-sea 
recovery of the Orion space capsule.

NASA operatives will launch Orion into Earth's orbit and wait for it to 
splash down into the Pacific Ocean for recovery. The launch window for 
this NASA mission terminates Dec. 19. Once launched, the capsule will 
take four hours to orbit the earth twice before it is recovered. The 
total duration of the operation from launch to recovery is entirely 
weather dependent and relies on numerous variables.

Anchorage will use a specially trained bridge team that will be on watch 
for the operation. Divers aboard small boats will maneuver alongside and 
rig tending lines to guide the capsule to Anchorage as the ship safely 
operates on station.

"It is a very complex, highly-integrated team of Navy divers, 
meteorologists, flight crews, the well-deck personnel and the bridge 
watch standers on Anchorage," said Lt. Keith Tate, operations officer. 
"All of this will hopefully culminate with the historic capsule 
recovery, which is something the Navy hasn't been involved with for 
almost 40 years."

Sailors aboard Anchorage have been training for several months and this 
mission has been a consistent focus for the crew dating back to late 
spring.

NASA crewmembers will provide real-time tracking information of the 
capsule once it is launched. They will be in constant communication with 
the Johnson Space Center in Houston to notify the ship of any capsule 
deviation. NASA crew members will also guide the ship incrementally 
closer to the recovery point.

"We want to get ourselves into the right mindset," said Jeremy Graeber, 
NASA recovery director. "This is a historic event we're all getting to 
be part of and I want everyone to think in those terms. We want to be 
safe first, diligent about our work and make sure we do this as well as 
they did it in 1975."

NASA will serve as a liaison to Navy divers for all the hardware that is 
connected to the spacecraft. If there are any issues with the hardware, 
the designer on board Anchorage can tend to it accordingly. NASA crew 
members are also managing how the capsule gets brought in, how it's set 
down and where it's safe in the ship. After the equipment is secured a 
Lockheed Martin team will download data off of the spacecraft.

"All of us who have been here since the beginning are excited to see 
this day come," Tate said. "We're hoping for a safe, successful 
evolution. It's something historic and we're all proud to be apart of it."

For more news from USS Anchorage (LPD 23), visit 
www.navy.mil/local/LPD23/ <http://www.navy.mil/local/lpd23/>.


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