This project is a collaboration between NASA and the Naval Sea (NAVSEA) Systems Command. This antifouling program is an environmental program that seeks more environmentally benign antifouling coatings to satisfy the requirements of the Uniform National Discharge Standards (UNDS). UNDS is a partnership of Department of Defense (DoD), lead by the U.S. Navy; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to limit 25 targeted discharges from DoD and USCG vessels. One of the 25 targeted discharges is copper hull leachate. To limit this discharge, NAVSEA has proactively sought out new experimental antifouling coatings from industry that not only leach lower levels of copper but also provide performance sufficient to meet an extended dry-dock cycle of 12 years.

In the past, only U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels were used as test platforms. Now, NASA has offered two Solid Rocket Booster retrieval vessels, the SS Liberty Star and SS Freedom Star, to participate in this coatings development program. The effort to apply patches of this experimental antifouling coating to SS Liberty Star and SS Freedom Star was funded by the Joint Group on Pollution Prevention (JG-PP) program. The JJ-GP program concentrates on funding projects designed to find solutions that reduce the amount of pollution created by certain waste streams common to several military and other Government agencies. Two 10- 20-foot patches of experimental antifouling coating were applied to the starboard/aft and port/forward underwater hull sections of SS Freedom Star and SS Liberty Star. The coatings were applied in dry dock between October 5 and October 10, 2001. The ships returned to KSC in mid October and are being inspected for performance of the new antifoulants on a regular basis. Successful down-select of a new candidate coating will allow total recoat of the NASA and NAVSEA ships to significantly reduce hazardous leaching of copper into waterways where these ships dock.