Sep 10 1982
From The Space Library
NASA rolled out the first lightweight external tank for the Space Shuttle at its Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. The tank, structural backbone of the Shuttle launch assembly, included an oxygen tank, a hydrogen tank, and a connecting intertank housing the instrumentation.
At 66,824 pounds the new tank was more than 10,000 pounds lighter than the one used for the first Shuttle flight in April 1981; the reduced weight would add payload capability almost pound for pound. The new tank, loaded on a NASA barge for shipment to KSC, would be prepared for the sixth shuttle mission scheduled for January 1983. (MSFC Releases 82-81, 82-83)
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