NASA's Pegasus barge, which throughout the space shuttle era ferried shuttle external tanks and other hardware from NASA's manufacturing site in New Orleans to its Florida launch facilities, is about to cast off on a new mission as part of NASA's efforts to send humans to deep space. NASA is collaborating in the barge's return to service with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers' Marine Design Center, headquartered in Philadelphia, which made the contract award May 14. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, maintains the barge for the agency.