Tue, Sep 21, 2010
It Has Been Loaded Onto A Barge For The Trip From Louisiana
Beginning Tuesday
The external fuel tank that will power the last planned space
shuttle into orbit will be shipped Tuesday to NASA’s Kennedy
Space Center in Florida. The tank has been restored to flight
configuration at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans
after sustaining damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
File Photo Courtesy NASA
The tank, designated ET-122, will support shuttle Endeavour's
flight targeted for launch in February.
At Michoud, ET-122 was rolled out to an enclosed barge, which
will carry the tank 900 miles to Kennedy Space Center during a five
to six-day sea journey. ET-122 is expected to arrive at Kennedy
Sunday, September 26.
During the hurricane, the roof of the building that housed the
tank was ripped off by high winds. After falling debris damaged the
tank, it was removed from the shuttle flight manifest. Lockheed
Martin engineers assessed the damage, and prepared and executed a
tank restoration plan.
The Shuttle Propulsion Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the External Tank Project.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. of Denver is the prime
contractor. For more than 29 years of shuttle flights, Lockheed
Martin workers at Michoud have built and delivered 135 flight tanks
to NASA's Space Shuttle Program.
Standing 15 stories tall and almost 28 feet in diameter, the
external tank is the largest element of the shuttle transportation
system, which also includes the orbiter, main engines and twin
solid rocket boosters. During a shuttle launch, the external tank
delivers 535,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen
propellants to the shuttle's three main engines. Despite the tank's
size, the aluminum skin covering it is only one-eighth-inch thick
in most areas. Yet, it withstands more than 6.5 million pounds of
thrust during liftoff and ascent. The tank is the only shuttle
component that is not reused.
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