khayo@sonia.math.ucla.edu (Eric Behr) (06/11/88)
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MARTIN MARIETTA AWARDED SPACE SHUTTLE EXTERNAL TANK CONTRACT
June 7, 1988
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Huntsville,
Ala., today awarded a cost-plus-award fee contract in the amount
of $496,100,000 to Martin Marietta Corp., New Orleans,
formalizing additional preproduction effort for the Space Shuttle
External Tank Program.
This preproduction effort, which began in November 1984,
consists of materials, subcontracts and labor required prior to
basic structure fabrication of additional external tanks. This
effort supported the major program restructure that occurred
after the Challenger accident.
The 154-foot-long external tank is one of four major
elements of the Space Shuttle. It holds the 528,000 gallons of
liquid propellants which fuel the Shuttle's three main engines.
The external tanks are manufactured by Martin Marietta at
the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, under the direction
of the MSFC.
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Eric