The transport was a sequel of sorts to the 2012 mission to tow Endeavour from the Los Angeles airport to the science centre, a feat witnessed by 1.5 million.
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An empty space shuttle tank known as the ET-94 ended its journey to the California Science Center in Exposition Park Saturday.
The orange tank, weighing 65,000 lb (29,500 kg) and 154 feet (47 meters) in length, is the only one of its kind. By early morning, it was moving through suburban Inglewood, where some light poles were unbolted and turned so their arms wouldn’t hit the towering tank. The tank, which was never used in a mission, is the “last flight-qualified space shuttle external tank in existence”, according to the science center.
The rust-color tank, aka ET-94, began its monthlong journey to Los Angeles on April 10 when it was pulled out of NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana. Los Angeles police suggested drivers avoid several areas along the route due to temporary street closures.
The last remaining space shuttle external propellant tank is moved across the 405 freeway in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 21, 2016.
The tank, while longer than the Statue of Liberty from torch to the feet, is neither as wide nor tall as the space shuttle, allowing it to squeeze more easily through the streets of the second largest US city.
Although longer, the external tank is much narrower than the shuttle, with a diameter of 23.7 metres.
The tank travelled through the Panama Canal to the Pacific before arriving at the Los Angeles harbour of Marina del Rey, where it was offloaded to await the weekend move.
External tanks not only carried propellant for space shuttles’ main engines, they were the backbone of the launch system. The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is the name of the hall where the two rocket boosters will be housed, whose construction is meant to start this year and be finished in about three years. It’s an example of the fuel tanks that were used during liftoff in the era of the Columbia shuttle disaster. After the Columbia shuttle was destroyed as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, NASA scientists studied ET-94 to determine whether its design played a role in the incident. After being discarded, the tanks would burn up in the atmosphere.
An investigation found that foam fell off that mission’s external tank during launch and punctured a wing, which led to its break up on re-entry.
Pieces of foam from ET-94 were used in tests as part of the inquiry. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
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