Space

LOCKHEED MARTIN ROLLS SECOND RETURN TO FLIGHT TANK TO THE BARGE

NEW ORLEANS, LA., March 3rd, 2005 -- Under its Return to Flight plan, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has finished retrofitting the second Space Shuttle External Tank, designated ET-121, and will roll the tank to the barge for transport to Kennedy Space Center at 2 p.m. Friday, March 4 at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.

The retrofitted External Tank-121 is another sign that NASA and Lockheed Martin are making steady progress in returning the Space Shuttle to safe flight. This tank will serve as a back-up should it be needed after the initial Return to Flight launch takes place May 15. ET-121 is scheduled for a shuttle launch in a window that opens July 12.

Reporters and photographers who wish to cover the ET-121 rollout are invited to come to the main gate at the Michoud Assembly Facility at 1:30 p.m. Friday. The rollout to the barge, about 3/4 of a mile, should take less than one hour.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems -- Michoud Operations designs and builds the Space Shuttle External Tank and assembles large aluminum and composite structures for aerospace and other applications in New Orleans.

Harry Wadsworth, 504-257-0094; harry.wadsworth@maf.nasa.gov