The space shuttle external tank known as ET-94 never flew, but it finished a decidedly different journey, by sea, early Wednesday when it docked in Marina del Rey atop a seagoing barge.

The 15-story tank left NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, where it was built, last month. It was pulled by a tugboat called the Shannon Dann for 4,000 nautical miles en route to its new home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

It was an eventful ride for the orange giant. ET-94 rode out a storm in the Cayman Islands. It traversed the Panama Canal. And last week, the Shannon Dann rescued four people off the coast of Baja California after their fishing boat sank.

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Once part of a fleet of 136 external fuel tanks that flew during the shuttle program, ET-94 is the last remaining flight-ready tank in existence. The tanks detached from the shuttle and broke apart upon reentry.

ET-94 was the so-called sister to ET-93, the tank of the space shuttle Columbia which burned up on reentry in 2003, killing the seven astronauts on board. ET-94 was examined extensively in the investigation into what went wrong and was never used in a launch.

ET-94 will remain in Marina del Rey until early Saturday morning, when it will begin a 16.5-mile ride through Inglewood and Los Angeles city streets, like the shuttle Endeavour before it, on its way to the California Science Center in Exposition Park.

It will be displayed with the Endeavour, positioned vertically, as if ready for launch.


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hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson