New Coating Technology Used to Apply Foam Insulation to Space Shuttle Fuel Tank

Workers at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have transferred External Tank 120 -- the Space Shuttle External Tank slated for the launch of the orbiter Discovery next spring -- into the facility's vehicle assembly building. The tank is erected vertically so that foam insulation can be applied on the liquid hydrogen tank-to-intertank flange area, a tank structural connection point. The foam will be applied with an enhanced finishing procedure that requires two technicians, a new mold-injection procedure to the intertank's ribbing and real-time videotaped surveillance of the process. The foam was removed from all existing tanks when the intertank area was identified as a potential debris-shedding source following the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew on Feb. 1, 2003.

The move -- a major step toward returning the Space Shuttle to flight -- brings the tank one step closer to its eventual transfer to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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