Image: In highbay 1 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, technicians begin to carefully sand away the red dye that has been applied to the external tank to help expose cracks or compression dents.

When NASA’s space shuttle Discovery launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla., May 31, it was lifted from the launch pad with the help of a “new” external fuel tank, ET-128, which featured ...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--NASA managers Monday directed engineers to press ahead with work to repair four small cracks in three structural ribs, or stringers, in the shuttle Discovery's external tank ...

NASA will ship its second redesigned Space Shuttle External Tank Saturday, March 5, from Michoud Assembly Facility, near New Orleans., marking the first step toward final launch preparations for the ...

Space shuttle Endeavour’s external tank is fully loaded with more than 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in preparation for today’s 8:56 a.m. EDT launch. Tanking operations began ...

Even as it prepares Space Shuttle Discovery for its scheduled launch tomorrow, NASA plans continued external tank (ET) testing. In late September the agency will windtunnel test another ET ice frost ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. This storyhas been updated at 4:56 p.m. EST. Two cracks have been discovered on the space ...

NASA and space shuttle external tank manufacturer Lockheed Martin successfully completed the Design Certification Review (DCR) for the tank that will be used for the shuttle's return to flight mission ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. With just one more mission remaining before the end of NASA’s storied 30-year space shuttle, the ...

As one team of shuttle engineers works to pry NASA’s Discovery orbiter from its external tank, another is patiently waiting to fulfill its role as spaceship movers. Shuttle transport workers rely on a ...