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Author Topic:   Exhibiting NASA's retired shuttle orbiters
cv1701
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posted 03-11-2011 12:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for cv1701     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The idea that KSC and JSC are front-runners simply because of their closeness to the shuttle program is being greatly exaggerated. At no point has NASA said anything that would imply that.

What they have said is that they are "committed to making placement decisions that are determined to be in the best interest of the American taxpayer."

There are two factors that come into play with that statement: which places will allow the most number of visitors (taxpayers) to see the vehicles, and which places will best preserve the vehicles for years to come (thereby preserving the taxpayer's investment).

Visitor numbers and preservation capabilities. That's what it seems like it will come down to.

The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) is obviously the best at both of those. NASM was the most visited of the Smithsonian museums until a couple of years ago when the Natural History Museum beat them out. Their preservation capabilities are world-renowned.

By those standards, though, the Air Force Museum would come in second. They have a solid history of preserving large-scale artifacts that is arguably second only to NASM. According to a press release I saw, they get 1.5 million visitors a year. You simply can't compare that to the KSC or JSC visitor centers. To give you another museum to compare that visitor number to, the Kansas Cosmosphere only hosts 150,000 visitors per year.

And, with the shuttle program winding down, the KSC visitor center is bound to get fewer visitors than it previously had been getting, which would also be a consideration.

isaacada1
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posted 03-14-2011 11:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for isaacada1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
KHOU-TV: Houston fights to be home of space shuttle

I enjoyed watching this for the fact it had a map showing potential museums in the bidding. Has there been any other article/report that's done that?

Robert Pearlman
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posted 03-15-2011 12:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The reason a good map hasn't been produced is because a complete map isn't (yet) possible. NASA received 29 responses to its first request for information; 21 organizations remained interested after the second. The space agency has refused to provide a list for either and less than 15 have made their desires for a shuttle publicly known.

Maybe, after Bolden's April 12th announcement, a better map will be possible.

(The KHOU map, by the way, includes Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA, which is repetitive for the Smithsonian.)

Robert Pearlman
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posted 03-16-2011 10:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Speaking of maps and contenders, Ben Brockert with Armadillo Aerospace is holding a contest on his personal blog to win a Space Shuttle Thermal Tile Box Set from The Space Store in return for best correctly guessing where the four orbiters will go.
Pick the four locations you expect to get a shuttle, not the locations you wish would get one. One entry per person. Administrator Charlie Bolden is not eligible for the competition. The announcement is set for April 12th, the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle spaceflight. The prize winner will be announced shortly after.
As his blog notes, I helped Ben by sharing a list of the locales vying for a shuttle but he found a previously unknown (at least to me) suitor: the March Field Air Museum.

isaacada1
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posted 03-25-2011 11:07 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for isaacada1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The News Tribune: Have gallery, need space shuttle
A mixture of confidence, optimism and fear of jinxing their chances keeps Seattle's Museum of Flight employees from discussing the possibility of not receiving one of the much-desired space shuttles NASA is about to retire.

isaacada1
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posted 03-25-2011 12:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for isaacada1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Robert, any plans to update your article from last August that provides picture gallery of all the possible locations? No one on the net has done as good as job as you for assembling all the data in one location.

GoesTo11
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posted 03-25-2011 10:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for GoesTo11   Click Here to Email GoesTo11     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It seems to me that there really shouldn't be that much suspense in this.

If I had to put money on it, I'd bet on Discovery going to NASM/Udvar-Hazy and Atlantis going to the USAF Museum. Those two seem like no-brainers.

As for Endeavour and the (displaced) Enterprise, I'd predict the former going to KSC and the latter to Seattle.

As a poster above noted, visitor traffic to KSC will undoubtedly decrease somewhat with the end of the Shuttle program, but it's not as though we're going to stop launching rockets from Florida. And KSC will still remain a major tourist draw given its history and its proximity to Disney World. (If NASA PR has any brains at all, they'll already be coordinating cross-promotional programs with Disney.) I assume it would require an expansion of KSC's indoor preservation facilities to host an orbiter, but I have to believe that such an expansion wouldn't be cost-prohibitive.

In Seattle, they're already building a Shuttle-supportable display facility that meets every NASA stipulation, they're attached to an airport with a runway that can accommodate the SCA, and per the agency's desire to make the orbiters as accessible to largest number of visitors as possible, it's a good fit geographically. I can't think of another museum on the West Coast that would even be in the running.

This seems pretty straightforward. Am I missing anything?

isaacada1
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posted 03-27-2011 04:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for isaacada1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
KHOU: Aggies make final push to land retired space shuttle
"We just think we’re such a logical choice and we don’t really see ourselves as being in competition with Houston," she said. "We feel we’re close enough to Houston that we’re just basically helping Texas get a Shuttle. I believe our chances are very, very good."

canyon42
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posted 03-27-2011 08:02 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for canyon42   Click Here to Email canyon42     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
An air and space museums conference is scheduled (coincidentally) in Dayton for the same time period as the expected shuttle announcement.
Among those to be represented at the Mutual Concerns of Air and Space Museums Conference are the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, the Seattle-based Museum of Flight, and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum from New York City.

"On the day of the shuttle announcement, Dayton will be the center of the universe with respect to the museums who want, and may get, a shuttle," said Tony Sculimbrene, executive director of the National Aviation Heritage Alliance, a Dayton-based organization lobbying for assignment of a shuttle to the Air Force Museum.

"It will add extraordinary drama to the announcement," said Michael Gessel, vice president of federal programs for the Dayton Development Coalition.

jeffbassett
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posted 03-27-2011 09:38 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for jeffbassett   Click Here to Email jeffbassett     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think the key issues that would most affect the placement would be:
  1. A government building that could adequately house and protect the shuttles.
  2. A museum that already has a large amount of annual visitors and could serve such capacity.
  3. Locations that would allow good access for all citizens in the US to view the shuttles.
The Smithsonian is one ideal place, it has the facilities, is centrally located and has one of the largest drawing aviation crowds in the US.

The USAF Museum is the same, has the facilities, expertise, location and draws crowds on a regular basis.

If those two are picked, the locations places two of the three on the central, north coast. I would expect the third could go down to Houston or a more western local. As well Enterprise would be relocated centrally or at one of the space centers. Given the extra hardware and training mockups, some of the space centers could have good alternatives to having one of the three shuttles on display.

Obviously, facilities, protection, and location for the public masses have to be the first consideration for these displays.

Aztecdoug
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posted 03-27-2011 10:52 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Aztecdoug   Click Here to Email Aztecdoug     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by jeffbassett:
The Smithsonian is one ideal place, it has the facilities, is centrally located

I would ponder that the notion of centrally located is a matter of one's perception.

isaacada1
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posted 03-27-2011 01:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for isaacada1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wisconson State Journal - Is this the final frontier for Johnson Space Center museum?
At the Johnson Space Center, it is clear that the space shuttle program is winding down. Visit historic Mission Control, scene of countless triumphs and heartbreaks, and realize that not only are the Gemini and Apollo programs long gone, but the 30-year space shuttle program is about to vanish as well — with nothing big to take its place.

jeffbassett
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posted 03-27-2011 05:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jeffbassett   Click Here to Email jeffbassett     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Aztecdoug:
I would ponder that the notion of centrally located is a matter of one's perception.
I have to say I have debated that a bit in my mind. I would think though you would not want to make it harder for one section of the country to visit a national treasure such as the shuttles. Given there are three, geography would have to have some impact on the decision making process. More over the places where there are the highest amounts of people already visiting for aviation/space history has to be a strong point of consideration.

Aztecdoug
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posted 03-27-2011 08:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Aztecdoug   Click Here to Email Aztecdoug     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by jeffbassett:
Given there are three, geography would have to have some impact on the decision making process. More over the places where there are the highest amounts of people already visiting for aviation/space history has to be a strong point of consideration.
Given this criteria the answer is real simple for two of the shuttles. One goes to Orlando FL (Epcot) and one goes to Anaheim CA (Condor Flats).

Plenty of hotels and foot traffic in both locations. Works for me!

Maybe ship the third off to China to pay down some of our debt for all that money Washington DC borrowed from them too.

This is fun I like this game.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 03-29-2011 12:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by isaacada1:
Robert, any plans to update your article from last August that provides picture gallery of all the possible locations?
An updated gallery went online this morning in connection with our latest article on this topic.
Museums make final pitch for retired space shuttles as NASA decision nears

With only two weeks remaining before NASA announces where its space shuttles will be retired for public display, museums nationwide are putting forth their final pitches as to why they should be bestowed an orbiter.

Museums in New York and Chicago recently revealed new concepts for their planned exhibits while in Seattle, they're raising their profile by literally raising the walls for a space shuttle-sized gallery.

Elsewhere, astronauts, elected officials, and others with a vested interest in where the shuttles are going are making their voices heard.

Rick Mulheirn
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posted 03-29-2011 04:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The various artists impressions for the proposed shuttle displays all look very exciting but for what its worth, I would always prefer displays that allow visitors to look down on to... as well as up at, these superb flying machines... and with the payload bay doors open.

The thought of the things being suspended from the ceiling and visitors limited to wombling around underneath would be too depressing to contemplate.

Fezman92
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posted 03-29-2011 04:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Fezman92   Click Here to Email Fezman92     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
If Columbia had not been lost, would this still be a very contested matter? They would have five shuttles instead of four.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 03-29-2011 05:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Five would be easier than four, but as even NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has said (as quoted in the above linked article), "I can think of six to 10 places that really ought to get one."

Robert Pearlman
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posted 03-30-2011 07:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Evelyn Husband-Thompson, widow of STS-107 commander Rick Husband, and Dr. Jonathan Clark, widower of STS-107 mission specialist Laurel Clark, have joined members of the Houston-area congressional delegation to build pressure on NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to award an orbiter to Space Center Houston.

The two fallen crew members' spouses took part in a press conference yesterday in Washington, DC, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.

"I represent the legacy of those who were lost and those who are retiring," said Husband-Thompson, whose husband died in Columbia's fiery disintegration during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003.

"Now that the shuttles are being retired, it is time to bring the shuttle home," she said. "One of the shuttles belongs in Houston, where all the astronauts trained and where we lived, and where some of us passed away."

Husband-Thompson, who has remarried since her first husband's death eight years ago, continues to live in the Clear Lake enclave popular with the astronaut corps.

Clark told the Capitol Hill news conference the loss of Columbia and its seven-member crew was "obviously a tragic moment for us all, (but) there was one small bit of consolation in all that — the crew came back to Texas and they came home."

"There's no more fitting place for a flown shuttle to come home to than Houston, Texas," Clark added.

Hart Sastrowardoyo
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posted 03-30-2011 08:28 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I, after some thought, would like to see a shuttle paired up with either one of the simulator or a high-fidelity mockup of various parts. For example, you'd have a ramp leading up to the open crew hatch and be able to just peek inside, not really seeing much. But in another room, you'd have the flight deck simulator or mockup, and a docent explain, "If you could crawl through the hatch and up one of the middeck ladders, this is where you'd be."

The guide would select two people, sit them down in seats facing the flight deck and continue, "These two are mission specialists and are sitting approximately where they would be on the real vehicle. The commander is to their left, the pilot to their right. Now if you turn around, you'll see the aft part of the flight deck, where one of the mission specialists would operate the robotic arm." And then the docent would select someone else from back of the group (now in the front, facing the aft stations) to lift and maneuever a tethered mock payload balloon from the payload bay....

GoesTo11
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posted 03-30-2011 02:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for GoesTo11   Click Here to Email GoesTo11     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hart's ideas are similar to the reasons I really like the Intrepid's proposal: It seems much more interactive than the others, with the cockpit mockup, information terminals, etc. Visitors to such places today, especially younger ones, expect to do more than just stare at static displays.

With respect to the "winners," I'll stick with my picks earlier in the thread. I will say that while I certainly understand the feelings of astronauts and others close to the program about Houston, I'd be genuinely startled if it got an orbiter. It's just not enough of a "destination" city. The orbiters need to go where they'll be seen by far more people than just us space geeks.

Hart Sastrowardoyo
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posted 03-30-2011 03:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
In my opinion, it's not so much as an expectation to do more than stare at static displays, but if you want to educate people - and as an aside, "sell" the space program - being interactive helps for a museum who wants to land a shuttle. And since one can't go inside a shuttle - except perhaps the payload bay - and the shuttle sims are also being cast off (or some museums already have mockups), why not combine everything and allow people "access" to the inside of a shuttle?

Look at open cockpit days, or feeding the stingrays at the aquarium, or allowing kids to put on a helmet and heft an M-16 at the local national guard armory for how popular interactivity is.

tegwilym
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posted 03-30-2011 03:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for tegwilym   Click Here to Email tegwilym     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Other than Udvar-Hazy, and Dayton, do any of the other contenders have a building in progress to house the orbiter?

Seattle has our building being constructed right now, and should be done this summer sometime. All ready for when our orbiter arrives on the 747!

APG85
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posted 03-30-2011 08:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for APG85     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Read that Atlantis and Endeavour will have their flight decks gutted much like Enterprise. Seems like an historical shame to do this. Does anyone have any details about the interior dismantling?

Robert Pearlman
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posted 03-30-2011 09:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
To the best of my knowledge, that is incorrect. NASA has said they will work with the sites for Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour to prepare the orbiters to meet the museums' display plans -- and that may include removing components of the crew cabin to display separately (e.g. the food galley).

But with that said, no decisions have been made yet because the sites where the orbiters are going have yet to be announced and so those discussions have yet to take place.

isaacada1
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posted 03-31-2011 12:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for isaacada1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by tegwilym:
Other than Udvar-Hazy, and Dayton, do any of the other contenders have a building in progress to house the orbiter?
The Evergreen Museum in Oregon has had their building complete for over two years now. I toured the facility in September 2009 and it would fit in there fantastically with the other space artifacts in the building. That being said, I don't believe Evergreen will obtain a shuttle because of the distance from a major city.

Since I live in Greater Seattle, yes I would love for my home city to obtain it. The Museum is already getting the training fuselage from Houston.

I concur with assessment that the shuttle should be able to be seen from the top and the bottom. I'm impressed with the Intrepid proposal. I do however though love the Tulsa display with it set to launch again to the stars.

GACspaceguy
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posted 03-31-2011 05:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for GACspaceguy   Click Here to Email GACspaceguy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
OK, in a couple of weeks we should find out where the shuttles will have their final retirement home. I would think that the Gulfstream II STA aircraft would then be used for NASA transport. But, if they were not, who could we convince to allow them to be picked up by a private company so that they may offer seats on shuttle approach shots. Talk about your ultimate simulation ride!

Actually, I wonder if some of these aircraft could go to some of the museums that did not get a shuttle in the end. (especially those who have started building a faculty or have raised money for the same). These aircraft have history as well. I tell folks all the time that a Shuttle does not launch or land without a Gulfstream in the air. I would hate to see them just cocooned at Pima in Tucson rather than in a museum.

Last thought on shuttle display, I would like to see one displayed with one payload door closed and the other side door open. The left side open would be best so that the crew door could be opened or removed and displayed separately (similar to a number of Apollo displayed spacecraft and their associated door). The closed side could be viewed at ground level unobstructed and the open side could have a catwalk arrangement made to view the cargo bay (with payload installed) as well as allowing viewing through the removed door. The catwalk could wrap around the back to get a better view of the engines. They could also look at a way to provide viewing through the windows to see into the upper deck. If they did it right they could make the side that had the catwalks look like the OPF scaffolding.

kr4mula
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posted 03-31-2011 11:52 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kr4mula   Click Here to Email kr4mula     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by tegwilym:
Other than Udvar-Hazy, and Dayton, do any of the other contenders have a building in progress to house the orbiter?
The Air Force Museum in Dayton is still doing fundraising for its new building. They haven't even broken ground or anything involving actual construction, from all appearances.

tegwilym
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posted 03-31-2011 12:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for tegwilym   Click Here to Email tegwilym     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I didn't know Evergreen had a building already. Thanks for info!

I know they have been working on a strange waterslide with a 747 on top. Seems strange to me, but I'll bring my swimsuit next time I fly down there to see the museum anyway!

GACspaceguy
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posted 03-31-2011 01:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for GACspaceguy   Click Here to Email GACspaceguy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I was at the museum in Dayton on Saturday March 26th. There was not mention or indication of a new building or the shuttle.

GACspaceguy
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posted 04-06-2011 05:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for GACspaceguy   Click Here to Email GACspaceguy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
By the way, I read a great article on this subject in the latest issue of Space News. It was a full page story, and when I went to look at the author’s name, it was Robert Pearlman!

Murph
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posted 04-06-2011 12:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Murph   Click Here to Email Murph     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A question occurs to me that I have given no thought to... where is "home" for the shuttle?

I know there is a request by Houston to bring the shuttle home there. Is that where they are stored, repaired or used for training? Or is KSC where they are kept, and serviced?

Somewhere else perhaps?

Fezman92
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posted 04-06-2011 12:39 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Fezman92   Click Here to Email Fezman92     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The shuttles are kept at KSC.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-06-2011 12:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Between flights, the space shuttle orbiters are kept at Kennedy Space Center (previously, they were periodically sent to California for maintenance but since the early 2000s that work, as needed, was moved to Florida).

Johnson Space Center is home to NASA's Space Shuttle Program Office.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-10-2011 10:07 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Atlanta - City of Peace release
Georgians Rallying to "Claim" NASA's Space Shuttle "ATLANTIS To Atlanta!"

Civic, government and business leaders of metro-Atlanta and the State of Georgia are invited to gather with members from Atlanta: City of Peace, Inc. (ACP), a 501c3 nonprofit, and to speak in support of NASA awarding the retired Space Shuttle ATLANTIS to Atlanta. ACP founder John R. Naugle states, "This US National Treasure can serve as a dynamic cornerstone exhibit in the future Global Peace Museum (GPM). City and state leaders are called to boldly join with us as official co-founders, and to unequivocally convince NASA, before their April 12 announcement, that the Global Peace Museum & Atlanta offer THE best use, and destination for ATLANTIS!"

Metro-Atlanta's city of College Park, "Georgia's Global Gateway" has already identified 4-6 prime acres between the world's busiest airport (with almost 100 million annual passengers) and the Georgia International Convention Center. The museum, the airport and convention center, plus the new Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway are ALL connected together with the new ATL Sky Train (connected to Marta at airport) to facilitate 'rivers of visitors' to the future GPM.

Awarding ATLANTIS to the State of Georgia will 'launch' ACP's mission forward to create this new $200 million dollar educational and international tourist attraction, as well as build upon metro-Atlanta's global peace legacy, generate hope and create many new job prospects.

In support of the project are Mayor Jack Longino-City of College Park (land donation) and GA State Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, as well as the indirect support from over one thousand other peace organizations from around the world registered with the International Decade for a Culture of Peace.

"ATLANTIS to Atlanta" is a bold proclamation from leaders of Georgia: The Peace State. The GPM's success adds great honor to Dr. King's globally respected peace legacy. He 'called us higher' referencing the Space Race in his '64 Nobel Peace Prize Speech, plus the MLK Memorial opens on the National Mall in Washington, DC on "I Have A Dream" Anniversary, 08/28/11.

tegwilym
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posted 04-11-2011 11:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for tegwilym   Click Here to Email tegwilym     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
What time tomorrow do they announce the winning museums? Just want to make sure I put in for the day off that day when our shuttle is delivered to Seattle.

kr4mula
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posted 04-11-2011 11:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kr4mula   Click Here to Email kr4mula     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The announcement will be some time during a 30th Anniversary of the Shuttle broadcast by NASA, which begins at 1pm EDT.

As for the current front runners, a USA Today article notes that it seems unlikely that Boldin would be making his announcement from KSC if he didn't intend on giving the center one of the orbiters. I could imagine him being booed off stage on live TV if he sent all of the orbiters elsewhere. (Incidentally, the photo caption with the article incorrectly places the Adler Planetarium in Dayton.)

GoesTo11
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posted 04-11-2011 12:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for GoesTo11   Click Here to Email GoesTo11     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That makes sense. We already know Discovery is going to Udvar-Hazy, so if KSC wasn't getting an orbiter it would make more sense PR-wise for Bolden to make the announcement from DC.

Also, assuming the KSC speculation is well-founded, that would seem to spell doom for NYC's bid...I can't see three orbiters all on the East Coast.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-11-2011 09:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA release
NASA to Hold 30th Anniversary Ceremony at Kennedy Space Center and Announce Permanent Space Shuttle Locations

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will participate in a ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Tuesday, April 12 on the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch. During the 1 p.m. EDT ceremony, Bolden and Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana will honor the shuttle work force's dedication, which has made it possible for NASA to take the next steps in exploration and retire the shuttle fleet later this year.

During the ceremony, which will feature an astronaut from the first shuttle mission, Bolden also will name the four institutions that will receive a shuttle orbiter for permanent display. The announcement and ceremony will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

The 1 p.m. ceremony is open to Kennedy employees and will take place outside the hangar for shuttle Atlantis, known as Orbiter Processing Facility-1. Atlantis is being prepared for its upcoming STS-135 mission to the International Space Station, the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-11-2011 09:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Florida Today, citing NASA sources, reports NASA chief Charles Bolden will announce Tuesday that space shuttle Atlantis will be put on permanent display on the Space Coast after its retirement.
Several NASA sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed today that Atlantis is headed to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.


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