CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Launch Complex 39 area at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is a liquid hydrogen, or LH2, storage tank. This large ball-shaped, vacuum-jacketed tank is used to store cryogenic propellants for the space shuttle's orange external fuel tank. The LH2 tank is located at the northeast corner of Launch Pad 39A and stores 850,000 gallons of LH2 at a temperature of minus 423 degrees F. The shuttle's external tank is loaded with about 500,000 gallons of LH2 and liquid oxygen, or LOX, about six hours prior to launch in a process known as 'tanking.' Photo credit: NASA_Frankie Martin
Photographer NASA_Frankie Martin
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