Final Shuttle Tank Gets New Orleans Send-Off

The last external fuel tank scheduled to fly on a space shuttle mission
was rolled away July 8 from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans
in preparation for its 900-mile sea journey to the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida. The tank, designated ET-138, was completed by Lockheed
Martin workers on June 28. NASA and Lockheed Martin held a ceremony to
pay tribute to the Michoud employees who built and delivered 134 ETs to
the Space Shuttle Program over a span of 37 years. Once at Kennedy, the
tank will be used to send shuttle Endeavour into space on its STS-134
mission targeted for November first.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• NASA
• External
• Tank
• ET

[abbasean]

big monumental 'thing' with space

[iClunk]

@moviesunrated They launch satellites with rockets too. Unsure if they do repair satellites though.

[moviesunrated]

@iClunk I didn't realise it was only Shuttle Missions they were stopping, but this makes me wonder how they're gonna repair satellites, aren't most of them repaired/taken up via the Space Shuttle?

[stefanmckinley]

@moviesunrated no, they are just retiring the space shuttle. That doesn't mean we will stop going into space! In the near future we will be returning to space in safer and more efficient launch vehicles.

[iClunk]

@moviesunrated Shuttle missions weren't exploration mission - they carried crew, equipment, sections etc to and from the ISS.

The US will being using the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to travel to the ISS

[moviesunrated]

So if this is gonna be last manned space mission (For the US) What about flying to Mars? The robot on Mars got too cold and the solar panels broke, didn't it? So we need to retrieve it, or just send another one out (It lands itself) And what about repairing Satellites? Or is it just missions for exploration that they're stopping? Not maintenance as well.

[Evenor48]

Gobernator Republican, is not good combination with the federal gob.

[Andrehiltonsr]

É espetacular o tanque externo!

[knytrydr73]

This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. If this doesn't prove that America supports it's space program, I don't what will!

[perrin6]

@Demokrator86 This was decided long before Obama got into office.