The last flight-ready external fuel tank in NASA’s space shuttle program squeezed around a final bend Saturday evening to the California Science Center, greeted by cheers from onlookers some 18 hours after its road trip began.
Like they did throughout the tank’s nearly flawless journey from Marina del Rey and through Inglewood and South Los Angeles, crowds gawked and memorialized the moment with photos, all the while sharing memories of the shuttle program and stories about External Tank-94, the name given NASA’s 94th fuel tank.
“It’s External Tanks 94!” shouted 5-year-old Antonio Alamillo, as the massive orange, cigar-shaped structure squeezed around its last corner before arriving at its final destination. “The tank and the boosters get thrown into the ocean. But it’s coming here to meet Endeavour.”
Indeed, the California Science Center in Exposition Park secured the 15-story-tall aluminum tank, which was powered by liquid oxygen and hydrogen, to accompany the Endeavour shuttle it obtained in 2012. Both were donated by Lynda Oschin in honor of her husband, Samuel. The Oschins are financing a large part of the new display room where the full shuttle stack will stand vertically in 2019.
ET-94 left a NASA facility in Louisiana on April 12 on a barge destined for a nearly 5,000-nautical-mile trip around South America to Los Angeles. On its way, it braved a Caribbean storm, and its tug crew rescued people from a stranded fishing boat.
It arrived to a Hollywood welcome Wednesday with the local media out in force, politicians cheering it as a sign of a hopeful future, and scientists and space enthusiasts thrilled by the brush with history.
A New Orleans-themed gala for museum donors kicked off the trip on Friday night, and tipsy revelers in evening wear walked alongside curious fans as it crept down Fiji Way at the stroke of midnight. A police escort preceded the tank, sitting atop a 42-wheeled dolly and traveling a maximum of 5 mph.
“This is the rocket we grew up with,” said Matt Griessler, an avionics intern at Hawthorne-based SpaceX who watched it begin its road trip hitched to a truck bed engineered to move its front and back ends independently. “It’s what made us want to be engineers.”
The 66,000-pound tank was out of Marina del Rey by 4 a.m. and, by 8, had entered Inglewood to cruise down Arbor Vitae Street and Manchester Boulevard before heading north on Vermont Avenue.
Jason Nezvadovitz, who works with Griessler at SpaceX, said it’s just a bit bigger than the rockets he’s used to seeing at the office.
“It’s really cool to see the last external tank,” Nezvadovitz said. “This doesn’t actually make it to space. But being in space is one thing and getting there is another. This gets the shuttle to space.”
Preparations for the fuel tank’s 12-mile journey snarled traffic throughout the Marina del Rey and Westchester areas because of street closures connected to the operation.
Northbound Lincoln Boulevard was closed and all vehicles were directed by traffic officers onto eastbound Culver Boulevard. The end of the westbound 90 Freeway was backed up for about a mile. Most intersections on northbound Lincoln Boulevard leaving Los Angeles International Airport had flashing red lights as officers directed traffic. Helicopters hovered overhead.
Crews from Emmert International engineered the trip. Alongside utility workers and city transportation officials, they moved 35 overhead power lines, 62 communication lines, 45 cables, 75 traffic-signal arms, 15 streetlights and 23 signs out of the way, according to museum officials.
The tank, as long as four school buses, was eased over corners with hand-made wedges.
“This is rarer than the shuttle,” said William Andrews, who drove from Pasadena to see the tank begin its journey in Marina del Rey. “Without this, you couldn’t put the shuttle vertically and display it. I saw the first landing of Columbia and, as far as I can remember, I was into the space program.”
Endeavour’s trip from LAX to the California Science Center took three days because of its massive wingspan. Hundreds of trees were uprooted in Los Angeles and Inglewood to make way for the shuttle.
Inglewood cut down 128 trees to make way for Endeavour but none was removed for ET-94. Instead, about 70 trees were trimmed, said the city’s chief superintendent, Harry Frisby Jr.
“The biggest issue on this one is the traffic signals,” Frisby said before the journey began. “We have 29 traffic signal intersections where they’ll have to be picked up and turned at a 90-degree angle. We’re going to be doing that about two hours prior to the procession and then immediately reinstalling as soon as it passes through.”
As it crept along Arbor Vitae and Manchester, past the Forum and crowds of onlookers, museum officials and astronauts walked with it.
“It really brings it all back — the times we had in the vehicle and the missions we did,” said astronaut Steve Swanson. “It was a surreal feeling (to see it in space). Watching it float away was interesting. It means you made it safely, which is a nice feeling.”
External tanks detached before reaching orbit, about nine minutes after liftoff, and burned up on their return.
Brian Ross drove from San Diego to see the tank in Inglewood.
“The shuttle program was such a complex undertaking,” Ross said. “I grew up with it, so it’s a little sad we’re not flying manned missions right now. It’s impressive to see how coordinated this move is.”
Octavio Gutierrez brought his 10-year-old daughter, Alyssa, to see the spectacle.
“It’s a piece of history,” said the Los Angeles resident. “I want her to be a part of it. I want her to remember when she’s older.
Kimberley Davis brought her daughters, Nicollette and Camille, for the Inglewood stretch of the route.
“This is history in the making,” Davis said. “I wanted them to experience it.”
Nicollette said she liked that it’s “cool and big and orange.”
California Science Center President Jeffrey Rudolph said the goal of the exhibit is to inspire future generations to enjoy science and space travel. He walked next to the tank for nearly the entire route Saturday.
“There are so many people out, and it’s a great feeling — getting people inspired about science,” Rudolph said. “People are embracing it and relating to its authenticity. If it were just a model, it wouldn’t be the same. This shows that we don’t give up. We learn from our mistakes and move on.”
The tank was used for testing to understand why a piece of the outer foam on its predecessor, ET-93, ripped off and damaged the Columbia orbiter, causing it to explode on its return to Earth in 2003.
Inglewood Mayor James Butts said the shuttle’s trip through Inglewood was the first in a series of positive turns for the troubled city.
“That happened right after the city got out from under the threat of declaring bankruptcy,” Butts said. “It was the first international event that brought prominence to the city of Inglewood in our resurgence. After that, we reopened the Forum. The Forum is now the No. 2 concert venue in the country. That, followed by the return of the L.A. Rams.
“Then, here we go again, bringing ET back to sit alongside the Endeavour. I feel like one of the most blessed people in the world to be involved with so many historic events that people will marvel at for generations.”
