Photos: Space shuttle’s external fuel tank journey from New Orleans to Los Angeles

A tugboat named Miss Gloria pulls a barge with ET-94.

The external fuel tank dubbed ET-94 travels on the Intracoastal Waterway.

A view of the rust-colored behemoth external tank, dubbed ET-94, is shown leaving its longtime home at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

Justin Rohlf, junior rigger with Emmett International in front of the external tank.

A tugboat named Miss Gloria pulls a barge with ET-94.

A barge is moored with the space shuttle fuel tank.

Dr. Jeanette Epps, a NASA astronaut, speaks at the external tank title transfer ceremony in the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center at the Michaud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

Members of the Coast Guard Color Guard, from left, Yeoman 2nd Class Tiffany Patrick, from left, Seaman Yariel Quintana Hernandez, Seaman Joshua James and Storekeeper 2nd Class Kamal Packer at the title transfer ceremony.

The space shuttle program’s last flight-qualified external fuel tank in existence has taken the first steps in what will be a grand sea voyage to Los Angeles.

Charlie Prebble keeps a watchful eye on the external fuel tank, a rust-colored behemoth dubbed ET-94, as it’s rolled from Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to an awaiting ocean barge.

ET-94 is the sister external tank for the space shuttle Columbia. It was built in 2001 and never used. On Tuesday, it is scheduled to set sail from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.

The space shuttle program’s last flight-qualified external fuel tank in existence has taken the first steps in what will be a grand sea voyage to Los Angeles.

An ariel view of the external fuel tank.

“This is the piece we were least sure we were going to get,” said California Science Center President Jeffrey Rudolph. “The last piece of our shuttle stack. What I’m feeling good about is that it looks good out here, but people are going to be so excited about it in L.A.”

The space shuttle program’s last flight-qualified external fuel tank in existence has taken the first steps in what will be a grand sea voyage to Los Angeles.

Workers in hard hats walked alongside the 66,000-pound tank as it crawled along Saturn Boulevard to a dock.

Dennis Jenkins gets a close up look of the space shuttle fuel tank.

The other external fuel tanks detached from the shuttles after takeoff and ended up in the atmosphere.

The space shuttle program’s last flight-qualified external fuel tank in existence has taken the first steps in what will be a grand sea voyage to Los Angeles.

Kenneth Phillips, aerospace curator at California Science Center smiles as the shuttle fuel tank passes by. The tank is slated to arrive in L.A. in May.