Reply With QuoteAwesome. Thanks for these posts. I really didn't expect NY to get anything.
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum Space Shuttle Expansion
Edit: for future easy linking, here is the Earthcam video for the Intrepid: http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/intrepid/
Now that New York has been officially awarded a shuttle, wanted to start a thread dedicated to the hangar construction for Enterprise, and will post latest on the status of the orbiter herself:
Images of the expansion:
[imghttp://www.collectspace.com/images/news-080210a/017.jpg[/img]
And images of OV-101, Enterprise:
Last edited by ronsmytheiii; April 12th, 2011 at 09:23 PM.
Awesome. Thanks for these posts. I really didn't expect NY to get anything.
Great news!
We get the Enterprise, the least interesting shuttle. It was never even sent into space.
Figures.
How does it figure we rated one over Houston, which got nothing?
excellent! I didn't think we'd get it either.
Plenty of places that applied also got nothing but out of all of the shuttles that did get handed out, we just so happen to get a "test" shuttle.
I am glad we got something, but would much rather have gotten one of the other three instead.
I can agree with that, but the truth of the matter is that all of the orbiters were "test" shuttles. Enterprise might not have ever flown in space, but she was built to do so and NASA continues to this day to scavenge parts off of her. The orbiter was built nearly the same as the other orbiters and was intended to be converted to an operational orbiter, but was built heavier before flight experience had proven that the extra "heft" was not needed (Columbia had the same "heft"). A structural test article was then rebuilt instead and Became the orbiter Challenger. Enterprise was used for landing practices, and was the only orbiter released from a 747. It was then used for vibration tests with an external tank and SRB's in Huntsville Alabama, and then was ferried to the Kennedy Space Center and stacked to the first ET/SRB's to verify all of the ground equipment on a production orbiter before the first launch.Originally Posted by antinimby
Most importantly, Enterprise remains the only shuttle to have been stacked at Vandenberg, CA and helped uncovered such large issues with the Pad there that eventually Shuttle launches from there were abandoned.
Read more here, Enterprise is not a consolidation prize by any account:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/...y-smithsonian/
FYI, here is the earthcam video feed of the Intrepid:
http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/intrepid/
Enterprise will be nice to see, but the disappointment is that it hasn't gone into space. Texas didn't get a shuttle, but it has plenty of gear that's been in space so it's not like they can cry poverty
How are they paying the 30 odd million dollar fee? Their last annual statement from 2009 showed they only had a few million in cash on hand, and that it wasn't growing...
Most of that is being donated to other Museums, the only thing Houston will get to keep is a couple of chairs that flew in space
As for Enterprise, I am pretty sure that the other orbiters were not possible to go to Intrepid due to the need to move there by barge. The Orbiter TPS is extremely delicate, it is like sandstone except with finer gains, after actually being able to hold a retired tile can tell you they will not hold up well even under the benign conditions of the Hudson. So enterprise probably was picked for practical reasons (uses foam instead of the TPS)
As for funding, well I do believe the President offered some assistance for placement with funding from the NASA side, but Intrepid is responsible for most (maybe Smithsonian will help out?)
The museum managed to raise over $80 million to help pay for the ship and and pier renovation.
The Houston Space Center already has at least:
Mercury 9 capsule (Faith 7)
Gemini 5 capsule
Apollo 17 command module
Lunar Rover Vehicle trainer
Skylab trainer mock-up
Lunar Module Test Article 8 Saturn 5
Saturn V Rocket
Like I said they're not exactly missing out on NASA gear
So exciting to have a shuttle come to New York! Despite New York being a major candidate in the selection process, I doubted the city would manage to acquire one. Rarely have I been so glad to be wrong!
I'm not sure what kit Houston is getting / keeping from the shuttle era, but they are losing a nice display piece: their partial shuttle-training mock-up for the astronauts is being relocated to Seattle. Unless they get the fuel tank and a pair of SRBs, I would say they're taking a big loss.
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