WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Bren Wade, chief mate of the Liberty Star, looks up at the Space Shuttle's first super lightweight external tank as it is moved on a barge to Port Canaveral, Fla. The tank is scheduled to undergo processing at Kennedy Space Center for flight on STS-91, targeted for launch in late May. The improved tank is 7,500 pounds lighter than its predecessors and was developed to increase the Shuttle payload capacity on International Space Station assembly flights. From the outside, the new orange-colored tank appears identical to tanks currently used on Shuttle flights. Major changes, however, include the use of new materials and a revised internal design. The new liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks are constructed of aluminum lithium -- a lighter, stronger material than the metal alloy currently used. The redesigned walls of the liquid hydrogen tank were machined to provide additional strength and stability as well. This photograph was taken with a wide- angle lens.