Space Shuttle Announcement Today

Today, on the 30th annniversary of the first shuttle launch (and 50th anniversary of the first man in space), NASA will announce what museums will get the Space Shuttles after they are decommissioned.

Three space flying shuttles exist. Discovery, the work horse of the fleet and the one that I was able to see launch last April, will probably go and replace Enterprise at the Smithsonian in DC. Enterprise never flew in space, but was used for early drop tests from a NASA 747 and other test programs, and will move to a new home also. Parts of Enterprise were also used when NASA tested it’s theory about insulation foam from the orange tank breaking off, and punching a hole in the wing of Columbia, which was destroyed upon reentry in 2003.

Atlantis (last mission scheduled for June 28) and Endeavor (on the launch pad right now, planning a April 29 launch) will go to other museums. One will probably head to the West Coast, so that this historic fleet will be accessible to everyone in the country. Most of the museums that applied to get a shuttle (and I think there were over 2 dozen) can list some significance to why they should get one, and it often is that a part of the shuttle was created/tested/designed near them. I don’t expect a shuttle to come to the MidWest, and I don’t even know if any museums near or in Wisconsin applied to get a shuttle.

The announcement starts at noon (you may have to check what time zone ‘noon’ is because I am not sure myself) and will be aired live on NASA TV. I may have to take my iPad and find a wi-fi hotspot to watch!