NASA's Last Remaining Giant External Shuttle Tank Is Coming To LA
EXPOSITION PARK (CBSLA.com) — Get ready for another piece of space history to make its way through the streets of Los Angeles.
In the upcoming weeks, NASA's last remaining giant external shuttle tank -- dubbed ET-94 -- will be transported from New Orleans, Louisiana to Exposition Park where it will be placed on display alongside the shuttle Endeavor at the California Science Center.
On April 12, ET-94 will be loaded onto a barge, which will make its way through the Panama Canal. Once the barge arrives in Southern California, a truck will pull the gas tank through the streets of Marina del Rey, Westchester, Inglewood and South Los Angeles.
Workers at the California Science Center will then piggyback the tank onto the Endeavor at the museum.
The journey is expected to take between six and eight weeks, meeting an arrival date of May 21.
No trees will need to be removed from roadways and fewer utility services will be affected than the Endeavor's 12-mile journey, which took place in October 2012.
"It's actually bigger volume than the Endeavor," said Jeffrey Rudolph, president of the California Science Center. "Fortunately for us, it doesn't have wings."
According to NASA, ET-94 would have been used to thrust a space shuttle into orbit, however, it was never assigned to a mission.
During each mission, the tank would detach from a space shuttle once their jobs were completed. After detaching, the tanks then disintegrated.
According to NASA, the ET-94 stands as tall as a 15-story building but is very delicate.
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