Earlier this month, the Air Force postponed the launch of the Titan IVB rocket after the Canadian government expressed concern that its 11-ton booster engines jettisoned from the main rocket could crash into the ocean near Newfoundland's offshore oil platforms, 196 miles off Saint John, New Brunswick. Oil companies planned to evacuate 325 crewmen from the oil platforms.
The Titan rocket is carrying a satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Organization. The Air Force has told the Canadians it will destroy the rocket if there is a problem.
Peter Brown, senior multimedia editor for VIA Satellite Magazine, has examined photos of the Sage, which is equipped with two large domes on its deck. He said it appears to have a large telemetry antenna that could gather a stream of data from the shuttle or the Titan rocket as it proceeds on a projected flight path up the East Coast.
In addition, it has equipment that could beam high-resolution, real-time video via satellite back to either NASA or the Air Force, he said.
The Coast Guard Marine Safety Office has received numerous calls from people wondering about the Sage, which is tied up in a secure area at the Portland Ocean Terminal.
Todd Bagetis, a Coast Guard petty officer, said the Coast Guard knows the ship's mission, but he would not describe what it is. "I don't want a lot of citizens to get all worried about nothing," he said.
The Sage, registered in New Orleans, is about 180 feet long and is one of 530 vessels owned by Tidewater, an offshore marine-services provider. Stephen Dick, the company's executive vice president, said he believes Lockheed Martin, a defense contractor, is leasing the vessel.
Lockheed Martin manufactured the Titan rocket, as well as the external fuel tanks on the Discovery, at its New Orleans plant. It is a partner with Boeing in the United Space Alliance, which has a contract with NASA to handle shuttle launch and landing activities at the Kennedy Space Center and flight operations for the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
------
The Sage is a special ops ship along with its sister ships Parsley, Rosemay and Thyme. During Air Force and NASA missions these vessels deploy to observe and record launch, orbital, and re-entry telemetry. The NSA then collaltes the data which eventually adds more spice to the mission objectives.
You really should see some of the nutbag comments that "Chachi" was responding to there.Chachi of Falmouth, Me
Apr 27, 2005 2:35 PM
Yo,First, the ship has been contracted out by NASA...so, it is most likely tracking the shuttle. That's it...that's all! I know, I know, all you liberal yahoos with nothing better to do than to complain about President Bush and the way our government pillages you and your families really want to believe that it is something more. President Bush has nothing to do with NASA contracts. Stop creating conspiracies...leave that to your idol, Michael Moore. Put down your 'phatty' bong, stop binging on Pop Tarts, starting blaming yourself for your poverty and laziness, and stop worrying about a simple research boat and get a job!
Apparently, the MSM have yet to discover google. The ship is a telemetry tracker..bfd.