Engineering film footage of the final shuttle launch

It was 1986 and the U.S. Air Force was on the cusp of something unprecedented in human spaceflight — launching a space shuttle crew from California and paving the way for people to fly true polar missions.

On the 35th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch, the last remaining external fuel tank set sail today from its factory in New Orleans to Los Angeles and a remarkable museum attraction in the making.

A last-of-its-kind piece of space hardware — the only remaining shuttle external fuel tank — makes its way along the city streets of Los Angeles to the California Science Center.