April 12, 2016

— ET-94, the last of NASA's flight-qualified space shuttle external tanks, left the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Tuesday (April 12).

"Today is a milestone in history for Michoud," remarked Bobby Watkins, director of the facility where ET-94 and the other 135 external tanks that were launched were built. [Full article: Last flight-qualified space shuttle external tank sets sail]

Destined for the California Science Center in Los Angeles, the large orange-brown tank was loaded onto a barge that is now bound for the west coast, by way of the Panama Canal. The voyage is expected to take upwards of six weeks, with ET-94 coming ashore at Marina del Rey on May 20.

At the Science Center, ET-94 will undergo a restoration and then join the orbiter Endeavour and twin solid rocket boosters to form the only fully-authentic display of a space shuttle in a vertical, launch pad-like configuration.