Last Flight-Qualified Space Shuttle External Tank Sets Sail for California

NEW ORLEANS — NASA’s last-existing, built-for-flight space shuttle external tank was launched Tuesday (April 12) on a 40-day sea voyage from New Orleans to Los Angeles, 35 years to the day after the first such tank fueled the maiden flight of the iconic winged spacecraft. Secured atop an open-air, flatbed barge, the 154-foot-long (47 meters) orange-brown tank left the dock at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facilityin Louisiana, beginning its journey to the California Science Center for