NASA's Space Shuttle Retirement Placement Decision

GWC Community Off-Topic/Other
#1

Pending a potential federal United States government shut-down, NASA is scheduled to announce the retirment plans on Tuesday 12 Apr for the three remaining operational space shuttles and the glide test version, Enterprise, currently on loan to the Smithsonian’s Dulles annex. There are reportedly 21 public and private organizations and museums currently with submitted bids to NASA for the 4 shuttles. NASA’s main requirements are: 1) That the receiving organization pay for the $28.8M de-operational costs and the periodic upkeep and maintenance of the orbiter 2) That the shuttle will be displayed in a climiate controlled environment 3) That there is a large number of people that will see the shuttle each year and 4) NASA is considering the educational and outreach programs associated.

My predictions on where the shuttle WILL be awarded:

  1. Smithsonian: Discovery

  2. Kennedy Space Center: Endeavor

  3. National Museum of the United States Air Force: Atlantis

  4. Boeing Seattle Museum of Flight: Enterprise

I can see if the Atlantis and Enterprise are swapped, but I don’t think the organizations will change.

My predictions on why NASA will not award orbiters to these museums:

  1. Intrepid Museum in New York: That will mean three orbiters on the East Coast out of the 4 and the costs associated with building a new display building on Pier 68 will be very high.

  2. Houston’s Johnson Space Center: Kennedy Space Center in Florida has been more involved on a day to day basis with the actual orbiter hardware and with only 4 shuttles, NASA probably will not be able to keep 2 of them.

  3. Chicago’s Adler Planetarium: A shuttle display at the planetarium would a singular attraction. Little to no other space or air hardware is present

  4. Huntsville: No current indoor enclosure available to display/store the orbiter. Like New York’s Intrepid Museum this may be a deal breaker.

Those are the main players involved and how I see them playing out. But we’ll see how right I am when the announcement happens.

~Shooter Out

#2

I’d swap Atlantis and Discovery from your list, Discovery was originally intended to be based out of Vandenberg as the ‘Air Force’ shuttle. They spent billions to upgrade SLC-6 to be a shuttle launchpad, with the first launch scheduled for early 1986. Well, 1986 wasn’t a great year for shuttles, and the plan was subsequently scrapped.

Missing from your list: Evergreen Museum in McMinnville,OR. They built a climate-controlled building to hold a retired shuttle and are getting the funding together, but I don’t know if they’ll meet the deadline/requirements for crowds, etc.

I don’t know if Evergreen’s chances are realistic, but they’d sure like to be a contender!

#3

The National Museum of the Untied States Air Force has specifically requested the Atlantis since it was the shuttle used to deliver military payloads into orbit. Also, the Smithsonian has specifically requested the Discovery. That’s why they fell into the list with the Air Force getting Atlantis and the Smithsonian getting Discovery.

Regarding Evergreen, with Boeing Seattle Museum getting one on the West Coast and currently building a facility specifically designed to house the orbiter with more visitors per year and a larger existing collection, I’d say that Evergreen’s chances are slim to none unfortuantely.

~Shooter Out

#4

The Decisions in the order they were announced (if I remembered it right):

Kennedy Space Center: Atlantis

California Science Museum: Endeavor

Smithsonian: Discovery

New York Intrepid Museum: Enterprise.

#5

Woooooooooooo Intrepid!!!

#6

And, it starts…

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/12/houston-weve-had-a-problem/?hpt=T1
“The idea that “home of manned spaceflight” won’t be home to one of NASA’s retired shuttles isn’t sitting so well with some.”