yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (08/25/89)
Sarah Keegan August 24, 1989
Headquarters, Washington, DC 4:30 p.m. EDT
John Dumoulin
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
RELEASE: C89-P
MSFC CONTRACTS FOR PURCHASE OF 60 SPACE SHUTTLE EXTERNAL TANKS
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., today
awarded a $1.797 billion contract modification to the Martin
Marietta Corp., New Orleans, La., to produce 60 additional Space
Shuttle external tanks for delivery during the 1990s.
The award is the second portion of a procurement to obtain
the tanks. The first portion, awarded to Martin Marietta in June
1988, was for the long-lead hardware (parts and materials) needed
for manufacture of the tanks.
The tanks will be produced by Martin Marietta's Manned Space
Systems Co. at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New
Orleans. The first tank to be built under the new contract is
expected to be completed in late 1991 and the 60th in mid-1997.
They are slated for use with Shuttle missions STS-60 through STS-
119. Under previous awards, 59 tanks have been contracted for to
support Shuttle operations, and 52 have been produced to date.
The external tank carries the Shuttle's liquid hydrogen fuel
and liquid oxygen oxidizer and supplies them under pressure to
the orbiter during lift-off and ascent. The largest and heaviest
Shuttle element when loaded, the tank is the only major non-
reusable element of the Shuttle system.