The space shuttle’s last remaining external fuel tank set sail from New Orleans on Tuesday, beginning a five-week journey by sea to Los Angeles. The massive external tank, ET-94, rode out Hurricane Katrina in a hangar in New Orleans and played a leading role in the probe of the Columbia shuttle disaster, yet never lifted off from Kennedy Space Center.
Although the tank was built to travel to the edge of the heavens, it will instead traverse the Panama Canal by barge, dock in Marina del Rey and then be driven to the California Science Center, where it will be permanently displayed with the shuttle Endeavour.
“It’s a little like watching my baby leave the nest after all these years,” said Patrick Whipps, a NASA engineer who oversaw the tank’s construction.
Space shuttle fuel tank journey begins
Fuel tank sets sail
NASA’s Malcolm Wood talks about the 66,000-pound shuttle tank ET-94
Malcolm Wood, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, talks about the 66,000-pound fuel tank of a space shuttle, the last of its kind, on its way to L.A.
Ready for push-off
From LA to L.A.
The 66,000-pound fuel tank of a space shuttle, the last of its kind, is on its way to L.A.
The tank — the last flight-qualified external tank in existence — will travel by barge, traverse the Panama Canal, dock in Marina del Rey and drive along Los Angeles streets before arriving next month at the California Science Center, where it will be permanently displayed with the shuttle Endeavour.