Many pieces ended up being removed from the tank, and the museum has had specialists doing restoration work so the tank will be ready for display at the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center once construction is complete.įor example, most of the tank had been covered with a 1-inch thick layer of spray-on foam to protect it from the extreme heat of launch, but a lot of that foam was removed after the Columbia disaster.Ĭalifornia Science Center mold makers have been using silicone impressions to cast new pieces of foam that have been added to the areas that have a lot missing. Seven astronauts were killed, and ET-94 was studied extensively to try and figure out if it contributed to the disaster in any way, according to the California Science Center. 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. Each 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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