Michoud Assembly Facility Monument and Memorials, LA
N 30° 01.439 W 089° 55.226
16R E 218337 N 3325036
The Michoud Assembly Facility has established a display of an External Tank, educational sign, and a Challenger Memorial at this site.
Waymark Code: WM5KEG
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 01/18/2009
Views: 29
Copied from the education sign:
"Michoud Assembly Facility.
Home of the External Tank
Space Shuttle
America's Space Transportation System
Michoud Assembly Facility's involvement in the Space Shuttle program began in 1973 when Martin Marietta Corporation was awarded a contract to design and build the External Tank (ET). The ET is one of the shuttle's three major components, along with the Orbiter and a pair of Solid rocket Boosters. The tank serves two roles during a shuttle launch- as the structural "backbone" and as the fuel tank for the Orbiter's three main engines. The ET also is the shuttle's only non-reusable major component: 8 1/2 minutes after liftoff the ET is separated from the Orbiter and burns up during re-entry into the earth's atmosphere, with a few pieces falling into a remote ocean area. The External tank is 154 feet long (about one-half the length of a football field) and nearly 28 feet in diameter, and is comprised of three major elements; liquid hydrogen tank, liquid oxygen tank and the connecting intertank. The ET is constructed primarily of an aluminum alloy, utilizing computerized welding technology, and is covered with a brown spray-on insulating foam. Each tank weights 66,000 pounds empty but more than 1.6 million pounds when filled on the launch pad with super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The ET is built in the Michoud Assembly Facility's largest building (43 acres under one roof), directly behind this sign. Upon completion, each ET is barged from the facility's harbor to NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the east coast of Florida. The first Space Shuttle launch was conducted on April 12, 1981.
*****
Apollo
Man on the moon
The Michoud Assembly Facility, a part of NASA since 1961, is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. The facility played a major role in the Apollo program as the production site for the Saturn 1B and Saturn V first-stage boosters. To your left is a flight model of the Saturn V's S-1C booster, 138 feet long and 33 feet in diameter. The first manned lunar landing mission, Apollo 11, was launched by a Saturn V, Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin successfully landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. A total of six Apollo crews visited the moon, concluding with the Apollo 17 missions in December 1972.
*****
Challenger
To the right of the Saturn V booster is a monument and grove of seven trees commemorating the Challenger astronauts who died in the Space shuttle launch accident on January 28, 1986. The crew members were Francis Schobee, Michael Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis and teacher-in-space Christa McAuliffe."
Hours: Daylight hours. Parking is provided and the display can be viewed thru the chain link fence. There is no hands-on opportunity.
Fee (if no fee, enter 'none'): "none"
How Long a Hike: None
Amount of time an average person would spend here: Less than an hour
Accessible?: yes
Location is wheelchair accessible?: Yes
|
Visit Instructions:To claim a waymark in this category the visitor must:
-
Include a
photograph of a prominent feature of the waymark.
If practical, please submit a picture of a different feature or one taken
from a different angle than previous visitors in order to make the waypoint web page richer so visiting it on gc.com is an
enjoyable experience.
-
Include a second (validation)
photograph of your GPSr, with a prominent feature (preferably the same one) in the background (no Photoshopped overlays, please).
-
And, of course, give us a report of your visit to the
waypoint.