Collector's Item For Space Buffs

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A notable artifact, a Space Shuttle external fuel tank, has been displayed in Green Cove Springs, Florida, since 2013 after being transported from Kennedy Space Center. Originally used for stress testing in the Space Shuttle Program, it became a logistical challenge to relocate due to road conditions and power lines. The tank's presence has sparked discussions among space enthusiasts about its value and potential for private ownership. Ideas have been floated about creative ways to transport or display the tank, including rigging it for sailing. The tank remains a significant collector's item for space buffs, symbolizing a piece of NASA's history.
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One place I used to visit every year was Green Cove Springs Florida. Once there, I could hardly ignore this artifact near the river bank.

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It has been there since 2013. It is privately owned, so presumably it could be for sale. If you don't recognize it, this picture may help.

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In the circles of space enthusiasts, it would be hard to think of a more prestigious item to have in your collection. To any other space enthusiast with say, a helmet from Apollo 11, the owner of this could certainly say, "Mine is bigger than yours."

@mfb is no doubt PF's most ardent space enthusiast. We could start a gofundme page and buy it for him. @sophiecentaur and I, being ocean sailors could rig it with sail and bring it across the ocean. You can see in this picture how close it is to the water.

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Just imagine @mfb's delight if it appeared outside his front door one morning. Of course we would arrange to have it delivered standing up, not laying on its side.

Sorry for the delay, I meant to click POST three days ago, but I forgot.
 
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When I lived in Maine there was a guy on rte 52 coming out of Camden who had what looked like the ass end of an F86 fighter sticking out of his garage. About the tenth time I went past I saw the fellow and I had to stop and inquire. It turns out he was a former mechanic at the Brunswick Naval Air Station and was building...ready for it...a jet powered ice boat!. I remember he was very vague about how he had come to acquire the engine in question so I have my doubts!
Having heard no reported attempts at the ice speed record (this was 25 yrs ago) nor spectacular fatal accidents on Midcoast Lakes I do not know the denouement to the story.
But I'll bet there is a tale already associated with the external tank and its procurement. What is the blue book value on a lightly used space object? Great idea
 
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I neglected to include the history of this item.
https://www.abandonedfl.com/space-shuttle-external-fuel-tank/
According to SpaceFlight Insider, the tank is the was the third and final test tank for the Space Shuttle Program and was used for structures/stress testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama between 1977 and 1980.

Once it was no longer needed, it was put on display and then later moved to NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. In 1997, it was moved again to Kennedy Space Center where it was put on display for the public up until 2013.

After 30 years, the Space Shuttle Program ended in 2011 with the final flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Upon closure of the program, NASA announced it was unloading space relics which included the external fuel tank. The initial winning bidder was located in California and decided that transporting it across the country was too much of a headache to deal with. The second winning bid was from the Wings of Dreams Aviation Museum in Keystone Heights, Florida.

With a group of volunteers who provided a 200-foot barge, two tugboats, and cranes used to transport the tank between land and barge, the external fuel tank was transported from Kennedy Space Center to Green Cove Springs.

It was supposed to only be staged there for a few months where it was to be towed to its new home in Keystone Heights. Moving the tank proved to be a logistical nightmare due to road conditions and low-hanging electrical and telephone cables and wires that run across the streets. According to Bob Oehl, executive director of the museum, two state highways would have to be closed and multiple power lines would have to be taken down.

it was to be put on display outside the museum and eventually, a cover would be put over it to protect it from the elements.

[As of today, it still sits there in Green Cove Springs.]

As for transport, I thought we could buy the defeated American Magic, and attach the foils, rudder, mast and sails to the tank. Maybe we could carry America Magic's hull inside, then reassemble it in Europe to be sold to an Americas Cub collector. That might defer some of the expense.

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No possible logistical or engineering problems there! Brilliant.
It does sound better thought out than the original plan however.
 
according to Bob Oehl, executive director of the museum, two state highways would have to be closed and multiple power lines would have to be taken down.

Or, you could simply fuel it up...
 
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It doesn't have engines, but a short hop should be possible. It will likely need re-assembly after that.
 
The one previous test ended badly... great artifact though.
 
hutchphd said:
When I lived in Maine there was a guy on rte 52 coming out of Camden who had what looked like the ass end of an F86 fighter sticking out of his garage. About the tenth time I went past I saw the fellow and I had to stop and inquire. It turns out he was a former mechanic at the Brunswick Naval Air Station and was building...ready for it...a jet powered ice boat!. I remember he was very vague about how he had come to acquire the engine in question so I have my doubts!
Having heard no reported attempts at the ice speed record (this was 25 yrs ago) nor spectacular fatal accidents on Midcoast Lakes I do not know the denouement to the story.
But I'll bet there is a tale already associated with the external tank and its procurement. What is the blue book value on a lightly used space object? Great idea

Oh, thanks for the memory! I was working in Brunswick in the mid-late 1990s and loved a good lunch at Fat Boy drive in, kind of "behind" the NAS. Had to keep it to less than weekly, or else...

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mfb said:
It doesn't have engines, but a short hop should be possible. It will likely need re-assembly after that.
So might your house :smile:
 

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