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New Space Shuttle External Tank Ready to Launch Space Station Era

Jennifer McCarter
Headquarters, Washington, DC                     January 15, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1639)

June Malone
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
(Phone: 205/544-0034)

RELEASE:  98-6

NEW SPACE SHUTTLE EXTERNAL TANK READY TO LAUNCH SPACE STATION ERA

     A significant achievement toward the first launch of the 
International Space Station will be unveiled Friday.  The Space 
Shuttle's first new, super lightweight external fuel tank will 
roll out during ceremonies at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in 
New Orleans, LA.

     In order to launch the Space Station to its on-orbit 
location, "the Space Shuttle system needed additional performance 
-- either through more power or less weight," said Parker Counts, 
manager of the External Tank Project at NASA's Marshall Space 
Flight Center, Huntsville, AL. 

     "Since each pound removed from the external tank equals a 
pound of payload that can be carried into space," Counts said, 
"NASA developed the super lightweight tank."  The new external 
tank is the same size as the one currently used on the Space 
Shuttle --but about 7,500 pounds lighter.

     The largest single component of the Space Shuttle, the 154-
foot-long external tank stands taller than a 15-story building and 
is as wide as a silo with a diameter of about 27 feet.  The 
external tank holds the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen 
propellants in two separate tanks for the Shuttle's three main engines.

     The two major changes to the external tank involved materials 
and design.  Both the liquid hydrogen tank and the liquid oxygen 
tank are constructed of aluminum lithium -- a lighter, stronger 
material than the metal alloy used for the Shuttle's current 
external tank.

     The tank's structural design also has been improved.  The 
walls of the redesigned hydrogen tank are machined in an 
orthogonal waffle-like pattern, providing more strength and 
stability than the previous design.

     Following Friday's rollout, the tank will be shipped by barge 
from Louisiana to Kennedy Space Center, FL, for its first launch 
scheduled in May on STS-91.  The new design will not affect the 
assembly process when the orbiter is mated to the external tank 
and solid rocket boosters.

     The Shuttle's current external tank and the new, super 
lightweight tank are manufactured by Lockheed Martin at the 
Michoud Assembly Facility.  Marshall provides the external tank, 
main engines and solid rocket boosters, including the reusable 
solid rocket motors, for every Shuttle flight.

                    - end - 

Editor's note:  Photos and video supporting this release are 
available to media representatives by contacting June Malone, 
Media Services Office, Marshall Space Flight Center, 205/544-0034.