14 DAY TRIAL // On Tuesday, October 11, Endeavour became the first space shuttle to be officially transferred over to the museum where it will be permanently displayed. Representatives from the American space agency have signed over the spacecraft to the California Science Center, in Los Angeles.
At the ceremony – which took place at the CSC – NASA and museum officials signed the documents transferring legal ownership of the orbiter. Endeavour itself was not delivered, since the agency is still working towards making it safe for public display.
In all likelihood, the spacecraft will make its way to California sometime in the second half of 2012. It is still loaded with toxic chemicals, as well as pipelines that could leak dangerous compounds over time. All shuttles are currently being processed at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida.
Some parts are to be kept there, and maybe reused for other spacecraft. In addition, engineers need to run tests on certain components that they did not have access to while the orbiters were in active duty.
The data will be used to gage the influence on conditions in outer space on mechanical and moving components, giving engineers a deeper insight into how to better construct new shuttles, space capsules and rockets. The spacecraft will be delivered to their respective museums only after these analyses end.
“NASA is pleased to share this wonderful orbiter with the California Science Center to help inspire a new generation of explorers,” a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden explains.
“The next chapter in space exploration begins now, and we're standing on the shoulders of the men and women of the shuttle program to reach farther into the solar system,” the top NASA official adds.
“Endeavour now will begin its new mission to stimulate an interest in science and engineering in future generations at the science center,” says the president of the California Science Center, Jeffrey Rudolph.
While Endeavour is scheduled to go on permanent display at the CSC, Discovery will be transferred to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington, DC. The shuttle Atlantis will be displayed at the KSC Visitors Complex.
The Enterprise test shuttle will be moved from the Smithsonian to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, in New York City. The full-scale shuttle mock-up Explorer will be moved from the Visitors Complex, in Florida, to the Space Center Houston.
The SCH is operated by the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, the home of the space agency's Astronaut Corps. The JSC placed its own bid to receive a shuttle, but it was not selected in the final decision, Space reports.