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How about a crash course in the Space Shuttle's external tank, shall we?
The external tank is the big orange thing you see on the outside of the shuttle.
You know, the one the bat was napping on.
As the name implies, the tank holds the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants.
Of course it wasn't always orange. For STS-1 and STS-2,
it had been painted white to help reduce solar heating and cryogenic boil-off.
Although, that was determined to be that big of an issue
and leaving it the orange color ended up saving about 600 pounds of weight.
Unlike the other components of the shuttle, the external tank is not reused.
It is jettisoned about 10 seconds after MECO, or Main Engine Cutoff,
where it then reenters and breaks up in the Earth's atmosphere.
The external tank is of course the biggest part of the shuttle
and when loaded, it is also the heaviest. Its empty weight is 58,500 pounds,
but filled it's closer to 1,680,000 pounds. The liquid hydrogen part of the tank
makes up for 395,581.9 gallons of the entire tank.
The operation pressure is between 32 and 34 psi and the operation
temperature is -423 degrees Fahrenheit.
So for those of you who were wondering how this little fill drain valve of STS-128
could have just suddenly stopped working, please keep in mind that when working
with these temperatures it's very easy for ice to form blockages,
making something completely inoperable. Yes, even in the Florida heat.
http://www.spacevidcast.com