The
external tank arrives by barge from its manufacturing site in Louisiana.
Off-loaded at the Complex 39 turn basin, it travels horizontally to the nearby
Vehicle Assembly Building. There, it is processed and stored in a vertical
storage or checkout cell until mated with the other Space Shuttle flight
elements. The external tank is the largest and heaviest - when loaded - element
of the Space Shuttle. Besides containing and delivering propellants to the main
engines, it serves as the structural backbone of the Shuttle by absorbing the
thrust loads during launch. It has three major components: the forward liquid
oxygen tank, an unpressurized intertank that contains most of the electrical
components and joins the two propellant-filled tanks, and the aft liquid
hydrogen tank. The entire external tank is approximately 154 feet long (47
meters) and 28 feet (8.5 meters) in diameter. The liquid oxygen and hydrogen
feed into the tank at the launch pad. These cryogenic propellants fuel the
orbiter's three main engines during liftoff and ascent. After the Shuttle main
engines shut down, the external tank separates from the orbiter and follows a
ballistic trajectory into the Indian ocean. It is the only major Space Shuttle
component that it is not recovered and reused.
Curator:
Kay Grinter (kay.grinter-1@ksc.nasa.gov) /
InDyne, Inc.
Web Development: JBOSC
Web Development Team
A Service of the NASA/KSC External Relations and Business Development Directorate
JoAnn H. Morgan, Director
The
external tank arrives by barge from its manufacturing site in Louisiana.
Off-loaded at the Complex 39 turn basin, it travels horizontally to the nearby
Vehicle Assembly Building. There, it is processed and stored in a vertical
storage or checkout cell until mated with the other Space Shuttle flight
elements. The external tank is the largest and heaviest - when loaded - element
of the Space Shuttle. Besides containing and delivering propellants to the main
engines, it serves as the structural backbone of the Shuttle by absorbing the
thrust loads during launch. It has three major components: the forward liquid
oxygen tank, an unpressurized intertank that contains most of the electrical
components and joins the two propellant-filled tanks, and the aft liquid
hydrogen tank. The entire external tank is approximately 154 feet long (47
meters) and 28 feet (8.5 meters) in diameter. The liquid oxygen and hydrogen
feed into the tank at the launch pad. These cryogenic propellants fuel the
orbiter's three main engines during liftoff and ascent. After the Shuttle main
engines shut down, the external tank separates from the orbiter and follows a
ballistic trajectory into the Indian ocean. It is the only major Space Shuttle
component that it is not recovered and reused.