As the nation marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's Gulf Coast landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, a storm-damaged piece of shuttle hardware is making a comeback. Refurbishment of a damaged external tank is nearly complete at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, and it could be delivered to Kennedy Space Center within a month.
The tank had been expected to arrive on Oct. 6, but is now expected to arrive a week or two ahead of schedule.
Lockheed Martin Corp. now hopes to hand over the tank to NASA as early as Sept. 17, when the six-day journey across the Gulf could begin.
The tank dubbed ET-122 will be the last shipped to KSC under current plans to retire the shuttle program next year.
Michoud last month held a ceremony featuring a brass band to mark completion of the last new tank to roll off its production lines. ET-138 was delivered to KSC July 14 and is expected to fly on the last shuttle mission, whether that turns out to be next February or one flight later.
While ET-122's repair is one small symbol of recovery from Katrina, times remain tough for Michoud.
More than 1,500 employees have been let go over the past 18 months as shuttle production lines have shut down. About 1,000 contractor employees were left as of last month, including some working on the Orion spacecraft.
IMAGE: ET-122 in the Test and Checkout Building at Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans (10-7-09). Credit: Lockheed Martin Corp.
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