14 DAY TRIAL // Officials with the Intrepid Sea-Air and Space Museum are currently going out of their way to secure one of the three remaining space shuttles for the institution. They say that New York City deserves a shuttle all by itself.
The American space agency is currently planning to retire its three-orbiter fleet in mid-2011 at the latest, and museums or other institutions interested in getting one need to make this fact known.
In addition to making room for such a large exhibit, the museum will also have to ensure that it can cover the tens of million of dollars transport and preparation fee that NASA is demanding.
The high costs associated with getting a housing a shuttle have even raised questions as to whether the the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC can afford to buy shuttle Discovery, as originally planned.
According to reports in the New York Daily News, it would appear that ISASM executive director Susan Marenoff is one of the most ardent lobbyists in this matter. She definitely wants Endeavor or Atlantis for the Intrepid museum.
“We believe the merits of New York City and the Intrepid will continue to position New York to be a final destination for a shuttle,” the museum official said for the publication, quoted by Space.
“The opportunity for an enormous population to visit, to learn and simply see this icon in a contextual historical setting simply cannot be ignored,” she goes on to say, adding that the museum is already actively involved in a campaign.
Representatives form the museum began collecting signatures both on the streets and on the decommissioned World War II aircraft carrier that houses the institution.
Thus far, more than 20 competitors have signed up for the race to accommodate a shuttle. The decision will most likely be taken in important political criteria.
The Intrepid has some serious competition, such as the Smithsonian, the Kennedy Space Center (kSC) Visitor Complex in Florida, and the California Science Center in Los Angeles;
At this point, the three shuttles have yet to be retired. Discovery will fly for the last time this December 3, delivering supplies and new replacement parts for a six-astronaut crew in orbit.
Endeavor is currently scheduled to visit the International Space Station in February 2011, when the next launch window opens. Theoretically, this should be the last time that this orbiter launches.
But a new NASA authorization bill seems to indicate that Atlantis will fly again too, during the STS-135 mission that will take it to the orbital outpost around June 2011.
As soon as all orbiters return from space, NASA will remove all dangerous substances they contain, and then deliver them to whichever museums make the final cut, Space reports.