The orange color comes from insulation that covers the vehicle’s liquid hydrogen and oxygen tanks . This is the same reason that the space shuttle’s external fuel tank was orange.
What happens to the external tank after separation?
During launch, tank and boosters are jettisoned and fall back to Earth after a shuttle’s initial push to the sky. Unlike the boosters, however, the external tank is not collected and reused. Instead, the tanks are discarded to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere .
What does the rust colored external tank hold?
Visit NASA.gov for current information. The 15-story tall, rust-colored external tank is the only shuttle element that isn’t reused. It feeds more than half a million gallons of fuel to the shuttle’s three main engines during launch.
What is the job of the external tank?
The primary job of the external tank, however, is to feed pressurized fuel to the shuttle’s three hydrogen-burning main engines during the eight-and-a-half-minute ride into space . The engines consume more than 242,000 liters (64,000 gallons) of propellants every minute.
How many versions of the external tank are there?
Three different types of external tanks were built over the course of the 30-year Space Shuttle Program. The first six space shuttle missions used standard-weight tanks (SWTs), but later, two newer types of tanks were developed—lightweight tanks (LWTs) and super lightweight tanks (SLWTs).
How much did the space shuttle external tank cost?
But there was just one external fuel tank remaining, called ET 94, built at a cost of $75 million . It was considered a lightweight tank, intended to pull the shuttle into low-earth orbit.
How much fuel does the space shuttle burn?
At liftoff, the two Solid Rocket Boosters consume 11,000 pounds of fuel per second . That’s two million times the rate at which fuel is burned by the average family car. The twin Solid Rocket Boosters generate a combined thrust of 5.3 million pounds.
What is unique about the shuttle’s external tank?
The skin of the external tank was less than 0.25 inches thick , yet held more than 1.5 million pounds of propellant. The external tank was the only major expendable shuttle element. The external tank weighed 1.6 million pounds at space shuttle liftoff, equal to the weight of 32,000 elementary school children.
What is the orange thing on the space shuttle?
The external tank, or ET , is the familiar orange structure that dominates most images of the shuttle at liftoff. At more than 15-stories tall, it is the largest single part of a shuttle stack. It gets its signature orange color from the foam insulation sprayed on the tank’s aluminum structure.
Why do fighter jets drop tanks?
The first drop tanks were designed to be discarded when empty or in the event of combat or emergency in order to reduce drag, weight , and to increase maneuverability. Modern external tanks may be retained in combat, to be dropped in an emergency.
Where does the shuttle External Tank land?
NASA’s only remaining space shuttle external fuel tank is headed to California , where it will land as part of a permanent display with the retired space shuttle Endeavor. The tank, ET-94, was built for the space shuttle program but never used in flight.
How is the space shuttle attached to the External Tank?
The tank was connected to each SRB at one forward attachment point (using a crossbeam through the intertank) and one aft bracket, and it was connected to the orbiter at one forward attachment bipod and two aft bipods.
What is the name of the largest rocket ever made to hold fuel?
As of 2021, the Saturn V remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful (highest total impulse) rocket ever brought to operational status, and it holds records for the heaviest payload launched and largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit (LEO) of 310,000 lb (140,000 kg), which included the third stage and ...
What is external tank processing?
The External Tank includes a propellant feed system to duct the propellants to the Orbiter engines , a pressurization and vent system to regulate the tank pressure, an environmental conditioning system to regulate the temperature and render the atmosphere in the intertank area inert, and an electrical system to ...
What is a external fuel tank?
The external tank contains the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer and supplies them under pressure to the three space shuttle main engines in the orbiter during lift-off and ascent.
Are solid rocket boosters still used?
They are recovered by ships, returned to land, and refurbished for reuse. The boosters also assist in guiding the entire vehicle during initial ascent. Thrust of both boosters is equal to 5,300,000 lbs.
