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ET-94’s sister tank, ET-93, was involved with that mission. However, Columbia ended up being destroyed in 2003 on its return to Earth for its 28th and final flight. He told LAist this tank is “very special” because it was built to fly to the International Space Station on the Columbia space shuttle, but it didn’t end up being used because those missions started requiring the newer super lightweight tanks. Larry Clark is a retired space shuttle engineer who worked on all 135 missions at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They all look the same on the outside, but their internal construction and materials vary. Three types of tanks were used for the Space Shuttle Program: standard-weight tanks, lightweight tanks, and super lightweight tanks. It would then fall back toward the ground on a planned path over the Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean, almost completely disintegrating on its way through the atmosphere. The tank also worked as a structural support for the entire stack and is the only piece that was not reusable.Įach time a shuttle was sent out into space on a mission, its empty external tank would detach about 70 miles above the surface of the Earth.
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It carried all the propellants, such as liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, that flowed into the main engines to help push the space shuttle into orbit, according to the California Science Center. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill.Jeff Rudolph, the president and CEO of the California Science Center, told LAist this is the last flight-ready external tank left in the world.ĮT-94 worked like your car’s gas tank, but for the space shuttle orbiter that's about 30 times heavier. Discovery’s 13-day flight will deliver a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment to the station. With Endeavor and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the launch of STS-128, which is targeted for Aug. The crew’s return will be broadcast on NASA Television’s video file Monday. All five partner agencies were represented.Ī welcome ceremony for the crew’s return to Houston will be held at Ellington Field’s NASA Hangar 990 at 5 p.m. When Endeavour’s seven astronauts joined the six resident Expedition 20 crew members aboard the space station, a record number of 13 people were aboard the orbiting laboratory. Kopra remained aboard the station, replacing Flight Engineer and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who returned to Earth on Endeavour after more than four months on the station. Mark Polansky commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Dave Wolf, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette and Tim Kopra. The station now is 83 percent complete and has a mass of more than 685,000 pounds. During the mission, Kibo’s robotic arm transferred three experiments from the palette to the platform. The other was an experiment storage pallet that returned aboard the shuttle. One platform remained on the station and serves as a type of porch for experiments that require direct exposure to space. During the flight, Endeavour delivered the final piece of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory and a new crew member to the International Space Station.Įndeavour’s mission included five spacewalks and installation of two platforms outside the Japanese module. EDT landing Friday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. – Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven astronauts ended a 16-day journey of more than 6.5 million miles with a 10:48 a.m.