SPACE SHUTTLE EXTERNAL TANK ET-94

SPACE SHUTTLE EXTERNAL TANK ET-94

A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN EMMERT INTERNATIONAL AND CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER

RECENT UPDATES:

• 5/21/2016: ET-94 has safely made it home, mission accomplished!
• 5/18/2016: Shortly ET-94 will be moving through the streets of Los Angeles! One step closer to this fuel tanks final destination!
• 5/14/2016: All is well.
• 5/11/2016: We are now in the final stretch! Soon ET-94 will be land bound after a month at sea.
• 5/06/2016: Making our way through the Mexico coast line, ET-94 is closer now then ever to its final destination!
• 5/02/2016: ET-94 is passing the coast of Guatemala, this is one well traveled fuel tank! All is well on the barge.
• 4/29/2016: We can see Costa Rica. ET-94 is doing great on its journey.
• 4/28/2016: Slowly but surely heading to California.
• 4/27/2016: ET-94 has officially made it through the Panama Canal! All is well.
• 4/26/2016: The barge will be moving through Pedro Magil locks today about 11:00 am and then Mira Flores locks today about 12:45 and 1:15 pm. (all CDT)
• 4/25/2016: ET-94 has made it to the Panama Canal! Dr. Ken Phillips, California Science Centers Aerospace Curator, has gone aboard to check the precious cargo. All is well.
• 4/23/2016: All is well. Tow is riding well. No spray or Seas, 2-3 degree pitch over last 24 hours.
• 4/22/2016: All is well. Tow is riding well. No spray or Seas, 2-3 degree pitch over last 24 hours.
• 4/21/2016: All is well. Tow is riding well. No spray or Seas, 2-3 degree pitch over last 24 hours.
• 4/20/2016: Weather improving at sea and all is well, moving steadily to the canal.
• 4/18/2016: We are half way to the Panama Canal, tow is riding well.
• 4/12/16: Tugboat pushes off into Intracoastal Waterway heading to Gulf of Mexico
• 4/11/16: ET-94’s transporter chained and secured to barge
• 4/10/16: ET-94 Rolled to NASA facility dock
• 3/4/16: Preliminary prep work completed on ET-94

THE JOURNEY OF ET-94 TO THE CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER

When the space shuttle Endeavour crawled through the streets of Los Angeles to the California Science Center in 2012, it was missing something: the giant external fuel tank on which it rode piggyback into space. The external tanks, which attach to the shuttles’ bellies, detached and burned up in the atmosphere shortly after liftoff. Museum officials figured they’d have to settle for a fake in their exhibit. Then, last year, NASA agreed to donate the last one in existence.

But the tank was in New Orleans and was about as tall as a 15-story building. Getting it to L.A. wouldn’t be an easy task. That’s where Emmert International came in. This complex logistical mission involving dozens of scientists, engineers, utility workers and police officers, will carry ET-94 by sea, cross the Panama Canal and traverse L.A. streets to its final destination at the California Science Center Museum.

ET-94 will be pulled on wheels by a specially built truck to a concrete pier in New Orleans. The truck will then move to the tank’s backside using a specially built front bumper, and gently push the tank onto a barge where it will begin its journey home. On April 12, ET-94 was launched into the Intracoastal Waterway, where it will be pushed by a river tugboat. After reaching open sea in the Gulf of Mexico, the river tugboat will be replaced by a 96-foot ocean tugboat. About three-quarters of a mile of braided steel cable will separate boat and barge to absorb shock from the waves, Albrecht said.

The tugboat and barge will travel for seven to nine days, around the clock, at about 6 knots (about 7 mph), Albrecht said. At the Panama Canal, it will wait a day or two in queue before going through six locks — a water staircase that will lift the vessel 85 feet to the level of Gatún Lake in the middle of the canal and then back down to sea level on the Pacific side.