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[i]The Air Force's top civilian has told NASA that one of the U.S. space shuttles to be retired in late 2010 should be assigned to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley's mid-March letter to NASA stated the Air Force's interest in obtaining one of the shuttles for permanent display, in response to NASA's request for information from any organization interested in securing one of the orbiters. Donley wrote that it would be a requirement of the Air Force to assign the retired shuttle to the national museum because it is the Air Force's official archive. Officials of the suburban Dayton museum are eager to have a shuttle -- preferably Atlantis, which carried military payloads aloft -- for display and believe it could boost annual attendance from the current 1.3 million to approximately 2 million, said Charles Metcalf, a retired Air Force major general who is the museum's director. "It's readily recognized by the American public for what it is," Metcalf said.[/i]
[i]The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has turned to the Air Force for guidance on how the nation's space shuttles should be prepared for life after their retirement. But NASA won't tell the Air Force whether it will be given one of the shuttles for permanent display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, despite a formal expression of interest from Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and the Ohio congressional delegation's intention to send NASA a letter supporting the Air Force's bid. The letter signed by the congressional delegation is to be sent Monday, April 6, said spokesman Telly Lovelace for U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, who coordinated the effort. The space agency acknowledged receipt of Donley's mid-March letter, but hasn't said more. The space agency has chosen not to publicly say who expressed interest in having a shuttle or say when it will make its placement decisions, other than that it will be after the shuttle fleet is retired in late 2010.[/i]
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