NASA's last remaining pre-flight external space shuttle tank finally took to the skies, albeit for just two short hops over Los Angeles.
In what was originally planned as an overnight move, but expanded to a two-day process due to wind concerns and extra caution, the External Tank-94 (ET-94) was raised by two large cranes and lowered in front of and then between two cranes. solid rocket boosters, so that the stack, together with the soon-to-follow orbiter Endeavor, will form the world's only fully authentic, upright space shuttle. The resulting 20-story display will be the centerpiece of the California Science Center's Samuel Oschin Air and Space Museum when it opens in the coming years.
"With the mating of ET-94 with the Solid Rocket Boosters, we have successfully completed a massive undertaking and the majority of the space shuttle stack," Jeffrey Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said in a statement. . "With this penultimate step, our sincere appreciation goes out to our remarkable team whose dedication made every phase of this complex and unprecedented operation a reality."
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Unable to wait until the new building is ready to move the shuttle in - the vehicle is simply too big - the science center proceeded with a multi-part stacking process not unlike what was done at the Vehicle Assembly NASA building in Florida. but carried out outdoors, where the components are subject to the elements. To reduce the chance that wind gusts would cause the 47-meter-long orange tank to sway, the team conducting the "Go for Stack" effort scheduled the lift for the overnight hours between Thursday (Jan. 11) and Friday (Jan. 11). January 12).
But even with that precaution, winds were still a concern as the scheduled start drew closer. A winter storm brought strong winds to parts of Southern California on Thursday morning and although the winds gradually diminished in the afternoon, the team was on alert.
Waiting until conditions were acceptable, two cranes began lifting the 29,500-kilogram tank from its horizontal position around 3:00 a.m. PST (11:00 a.m. GMT or 6:00 a.m. EST). Gradually the tank was rotated vertically, and then a single large crane lifted the ET-94 high enough to clear the partially constructed walls of the new air and space center.
The tank was then set down in front of the two 150-foot solid rocket boosters and their surrounding scaffolding, as it was now daytime and the wind was beginning to pick up again. The decision was made to take a break, give the team a chance to rest and resume the second and final part of the lift on Friday evening.
Waiting again until after nightfall, a crane raised the tank and then slowly lowered it between the twin rockets. A laser projected from below helped guide the tank in as workers stood on the scaffolding ready to "soft-couple" the ET-94 to each booster using the same mounting points that held the hardware together for a launch.
"The ET and SRBs have eight attachment points," Dennis Jenkins, a veteran NASA space shuttle engineer and project manager for the California Science Center's Endeavor display, said ruefully in an interview with collectSPACE.com. "The two front mounting points are the primary structure, one on each side. Then there are three struts on each side, so six struts on the bottom that keep the whole thing straight. They don't really take much load, but they are the ones that keeping the tank aligned with the boosters."
"The forward points are secured with nuts and bolts. The struts are all secured. The pins are several inches in diameter, so they are large pins," Jenkins said.
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The stacking of the external tank ended a journey for ET-94 that began with the loss of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003. The tank was originally scheduled to be launched with Columbia on a science mission, but after the tragedy, it became a test article for improving the design of the external tanks that are still produced today and aided in early studies for the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket.
In 2015, two years after making a brief cameo in the film "GI Joe: Retaliation" that doubled as a rocket, the ET-94 was awarded to the California Science Center for use in Endeavor's future exhibit. A year later, the tank was loaded onto a ship at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans for a five-week, 5,000-mile journey that delivered it to Los Angeles via the Panama Canal.
The ET-94 was loaded onto a transport ship in Marina del Rey and then began a 19-hour road trip to the California Science Center. There the tank sat, positioned next to the pavilion built to house the Endeavor, where it was periodically worked to install hardware and add new insulation as it waited to be lifted into place.
Next up (quite literally) will be Endeavor. Recently wrapped in shrink-wrap to prevent it from getting dirty, the winged orbiter will undergo a similar motion, lift and docking as ET-94 sometime in the coming weeks. Once assembled, the stack waits to be configured for display while the Oschin Air and Space Center building around and above it is finished.
Click through to collectSPACETo follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @gathering SPACE. Copyright 2024 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved. to see more photos of External Tank-94's lift into place for the future space shuttle Endeavor exhibit.
