Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

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petemn2004
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Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by petemn2004 »

On April 12th (30th anniversary of Columbia's first flight) NASA is supposed to announce where all the retired Space Shuttles will end up as museum pieces. So in keeping with the tradition of "March Madness" you are invited to guess where they will go. The person or persons guessing the most correct will win. Deadline is 11:59 PM, April 11.

See the following link:

http://collectspace.com/news/news-080210b.html


There are the 3 remaining space capable flying shuttles and the Enterprise, which did the landing tests off the back of a 747.

My guesses:

Discovery: (Smithsonian) at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport (where the Enterprise is currently located)
Atlantis: Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson in Dayton, Ohio
Endeavour: Kennedy Space Center
Enterprise: New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum


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Dale Smith
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by Dale Smith »

The link said that the Smithsonian is already slated to get Discovery, though I will guess that they will somehow make room for it in the main Air & Space Museum building on the Capital Mall - at least initially.

I concur that Kennedy Space Center will probably also get one – I will guess Atlantis.

My last two choices are:
Endeavor - Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL

Enterprise - Pima Air & Space Museum in Tuscon, AZ (adjacent to Davis Monthan AFB where the big aircraft graveyard is located)
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Dick Jacobson
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by Dick Jacobson »

Last year I was at the Intrepid museum and they were conducting a full-court press trying to get a shuttle. They were asking all the visitors to sign a petition (I didn't sign it). If I remember right, they had a Concorde on display at the same location where the drawing shows the shuttle. I guess they plan to ditch the Concorde in the Hudson River.

I think it's safe to say that the Smithsonian will get one of the orbiters. I wouldn't bet against the power of the Texas congressional delegation to grab one for Houston. It's also pretty safe to say that Minnesota won't get any.

My guess is that the Smithsonian, Kennedy Space Center, and Space Center Houston will get the three "real" orbiters, while the Intrepid museum will get the Enterprise.
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Dick Jacobson
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by Dick Jacobson »

The engines (both SSME and OMS) currently in use will be pulled from the orbiters and replaced with older ones or mockups. The main engines are considered the world's most efficient rocket engines and will probably be used in the heavy lift rocket currently under design.
30-inch homemade Newtonian with periscope
20-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian with periscope
14-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian
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6-inch Russian Maksutov-Newtonian on Vixen equatorial mount
Too many small scopes and binoculars to mention
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Ron Schmit
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by Ron Schmit »

Nice article showing plans for Kennedy's display:

http://www.universetoday.com/84550/%E2% ... r-complex/

Orbiter not simply sitting on it's gear in a post-landing config, but captured mid mission - doing what it does best. I like it!

My bet:
  • Enterprise: Museum of Flight - Seattle (gotta have one on the west coast)
    Discovery: Smithsonian Air & Space - Dulles Center
    Endeavour: Johnson Space Center - Houston
    Atlantis: KSC Visitor Center - Florida
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Dick Jacobson
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by Dick Jacobson »

It would be great if they did a nationwide tour of the orbiters on the back of the 747 carrier before delivering them to their permanent destinations. I'll bet the total spectators would be in the millions.

Ron, I think I agree that Seattle's Museum of Flight would be a better location for Enterprise than the Intrepid. It's a very impressive museum. But New York probably has more political clout and its high population and tourist density is an argument in its favor.
30-inch homemade Newtonian with periscope
20-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian with periscope
14-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian
10-inch Newtonian that folds flat
6-inch Russian Maksutov-Newtonian on Vixen equatorial mount
Too many small scopes and binoculars to mention
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Ron Schmit
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by Ron Schmit »

I know what you mean, regarding New York, but the shuttle is just too big for the Intrepid, with all the other birds on her deck. Maybe they would have it on a barge, temporarily, and then piggy-back flight to Seattle for permanent storage.

I like your idea of the flying tour, but the cash required just can't look responsible at this point.
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merle
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by merle »

Just announced on NASA TV during Space Shuttle Anniversary:

Atlantis: Kennedy Space Center
Endeavor: California Science Center
Discovery: Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
Enterprise: Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
Clear skies,
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Ron Schmit
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by Ron Schmit »

Oh, sure... The California Science Center, because it was SO instrumental in the success of the space program. Of COURSE! What was I thinking?

<sarcasm off>
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merle
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by merle »

From L.A.Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... 1ed060970b

Southern California's ties to the shuttle program date back to the early 1970s. The program pumped billions of dollars into the economy and employed thousands in communities including Downey, Canoga Park and Palmdale. An occasional reminder of the effects of the program came in the form of a sonic boom, which jarred the region during shuttle landings at Edwards Air Force Base.


It is nice to have at least one orbiter on the other coast...
Clear skies,
Merle Hiltner
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Onan Observatory • Sylvia A. Casby Observatory • HotSpot Classroom
merle.hiltner@gmail.com
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Dick Jacobson
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by Dick Jacobson »

merle wrote:It is nice to have at least one orbiter on the other coast...
And they're all 1500 miles from Minnesota, as I expected. I guess the closest an orbiter will get to us is when it passes overhead, either in orbit or on the 747.
30-inch homemade Newtonian with periscope
20-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian with periscope
14-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian
10-inch Newtonian that folds flat
6-inch Russian Maksutov-Newtonian on Vixen equatorial mount
Too many small scopes and binoculars to mention
petemn2004
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by petemn2004 »

Time to tally the predictions. Arbitrarily I will assign 1 point for each correct institution and a bonus point for each correct orbiter for that institution.

Space Shuttle Final Disposition:

Enterprise: Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum
Discovery: Smithsonian at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport
Atlantis: Kennedy Space Center
Endeavour: California Science Center

Mark Petersen 5
Dale Smith 4
Dick Jacobson 4
Ron Schmit 4


Too bad that the Midwest did not get any and the East Coast got two relatively close together. It is not surprising the West Coast got one in retrospect.

I would like to see all three flight orbiters lined up on display inside the VAB for awhile at Kennedy Space Center before two of them are carted off, never to return to their home port. That would be a sight!

It is sad to see their service end.

On a personal note, my father worked for Honeywell until the late 70's and he was the principal electrical engineer that designed the power supply for the main engine controllers made by Honeywell. There are 2 of them on each engine, for a total of 6 that fly ever mission.

I have seen one Space Shuttle launch; Atlantis on STS-129 in November 2009 from the KSC Visitors Center. It was party cloudy but left on time the first scheduled try. That is a rarity. The trajectory is bad from that location - directly away to the north east. I would think the view would be great from the location of where they display the Saturn 5 rocket.

After Endeavour's launch there is just the one final space shuttle launch of Atlantis targeted for late June. I just might get the itch to go down there.


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Dick Jacobson
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by Dick Jacobson »

Seeing one of the shuttle orbiters is near the top of my list of things to do before I die. Before the shuttle started flying, I resolved that I would go to see a launch once they started launching on a predictable schedule about once a week. It never happened, and it looks like I'll miss my last chance.

The Space Shuttle was an amazing engineering achievement, but it doesn't fulfill our needs today and its retirement is overdue. Trying to design one spacecraft to do absolutely everything was an impossible goal. For the time being we need small, highly reliable capsules and rockets to launch humans and larger expendable rockets for freight. Eventually I hope that experiments with hypersonic air-breathing vehicles will result in a reliable and cost-effective launcher for humans. If SpaceX can make good on their promise of $1000 per pound for freight on the Falcon 9 Heavy, it will revolutionize the space business.

The leading candidate for NASA's heavy lifter is essentially the Space Shuttle minus the orbiter, plus a cargo shroud on top of the tank and the three engines positioned below the tank. This would give a capacity of 70 metric tons versus 23 for the shuttle. Your father's legacy would live on for at least a while as long as the SSME engines were in use. It might be worth a trip to Florida to see them launch one of those beasts!
30-inch homemade Newtonian with periscope
20-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian with periscope
14-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian
10-inch Newtonian that folds flat
6-inch Russian Maksutov-Newtonian on Vixen equatorial mount
Too many small scopes and binoculars to mention
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WilliamWood
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Re: Where Will the Space Shuttles End Up?

Post by WilliamWood »

merle wrote:Southern California's ties to the shuttle program date back to the early 1970s...
I was lucky enough to visit the Rockwell facility in Downey during its heydey -- the attached concept art is part of their packet of stuff. Even got to play around in their full-size shuttle mockup. I shudder to think what must have become of that, given the state of the Rockwell facility today. Alas...very "Memories of the Space Age" reminiscent.

I was also lucky enough to be present at Edwards AFB for the landings of STS-1 and STS-2.

Finally, I remember the California Science Center aerospace museum *before* it got its mega-makeover. Basically, it consisted of a trainer jet pinned to the exterior wall of the rickety IMAX theater and a decrepit passenger airliner (727?) baking in a parking lot. Still, I was fond of it...one evening, for instance, there was a space symposium there. Ray Bradbury read his poem "Icarus Mongolfier Wright." Good times!

The renovation has improved the museum dramatically. It now has things like a full scale model of Cassini (WAY big compared to Voyager) and a Mercury capsule. It also has a retired SR-71 out front. Still, if they were looking for a west coast location, the San Diego Air & Space Museum would have seemed more logical to me. I hope that LOTS of people, especially kids, get to enjoy and be inspired by the shuttle once it is there. I hope, too, that we'll soon have a space renaissance so that this won't just be a sad, constant reminder of our lack of manned space capability.
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