The External Tank that will help launch Space Shuttle
Discovery on its Return to Flight mission is expected to roll out
Thursday afternoon, Dec. 30, from NASA’s Michoud Assembly
Facility near New Orleans to begin its journey to NASA’s Kennedy
Space Center, Fla., where it will be prepared for launch. The
tank is scheduled to leave New Orleans on its barge Friday
morning Dec. 31.
The tank, known as ET-120, will roll out on its transporter from
the final assembly building and be loaded onto a covered barge
docked at the Michoud Facility. The barge is expected to take
four to five days to travel from the Mississippi River-Gulf of
Mexico Outlet to Florida’s Banana River, which pours into the
Atlantic Ocean.
News media will be offered a view of the tank during rollout and
loading. Access will be granted on a first-requested basis and
will be limited to two persons per organization. News media who
want to attend this event must contact the Lockheed Martin
Communications Office (504/257-1307) by close of business Dec.
29.
Since the Michoud Assembly Facility is an operational facility
that deals in hazardous materials, all who participate must be
properly dressed in long pants and closed shoes with low heels.
The gigantic, rust-colored external tank is the largest element
of the Space Shuttle system at 27.6-feet wide and 154-feet tall.
During the first eight-and-a-half minutes of launch, the tank
feeds 535,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen to the
Shuttle’s three main engines, powering the Shuttle to space
during ascent. The tank is the only Shuttle component not reused.
It withstands more than 7 million pounds of thrust during liftoff
and ascent.
ET-120 is the first to incorporate safety improvements to address
the Columbia Accident Investigation Board’s recommendation to
reduce the risk to the Shuttle from falling debris during ascent.
Investigators believe that during Columbia’s launch in January
2003, insulating foam from the bipod area fell off the External
Tank and damaged the left wing of the Orbiter.
The Space Shuttle Propulsion Office at NASA’s Marshall Space
Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the tank project.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. is the primary contractor for
the tank.
For supporting materials for the event, such as photographs, fact
sheets, video and audio files and more, will be available online
at:
