STS 41-B Post-Flight Presentation

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 cargo-delivery module packed with 9,400 pounds of food, equipment and science gear departed shuttle Atlantis’ payload bay on July 11, 2011 and parked at the International Space Station’s doorway for unloading.

Thirty years after the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated in the clear, cold sky high above Cape Canaveral, the commander’s widow no longer feels anger at NASA and the management missteps and schedule pressure that kept the orbiters flying despite a fatal flaw in their solid-fuel boosters.