E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
CollectSpace
The shuttle Enterprise, which was an aerodynamic test vehicle that never flew in space, gets a once-over at its display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center, near Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Discovery is expected to take Enterprise's place after the retirement of the space shuttle fleet.
Last updated 12:12 p.m. ET March 9:
So what happens now that the shuttle Discovery has made its last landing? The most-flown spaceship in NASA's fleet will almost certainly end up on display at the Smithsonian — but not before it goes through a months-long round of technological taxidermy.
The first steps toward Discovery's destiny aren't all that unusual: NASA will put the orbiter through its routine post-flight maintenance, as if it were going back into space. But instead of prepping the space plane for its next mission, mechanics will give Discovery a major overhaul, turning the world's most complex flying machine into an unflyable museum artifact.
NASA has already figured out how to pull out all the stuff on Discovery that could pose a health hazard, ranging from fuel tanks and plumbing to thermal blankets that have soaked up toxic fumes for the past 26 years. The shuttle's main engines will be replaced with mockups built out of replicas and spare parts. The crew cabin will be spiffed up to look as if it's ready for flight, but in hidden areas, structural shells and skins will take the place of flight hardware.
When museumgoers get their first up-close peek at Discovery next year, they may have no idea that the space shuttle has been stripped down and rebuilt. "To the viewer, it will look as if the shuttle is intact," Robert Z. Pearlman, editor of CollectSpace website and a walking encyclopedia on the shuttle program, told me. "And for future generations of researchers, the process of removing all these materials has been very well documented."
Discovery's destiny is due to be announced officially on April 12, the 30th anniversary of the shuttle fleet's first spaceflight. Officially, Discovery's fate is a closely held secret. But the widespread assumption is that after putting nearly 150 million miles on its odometer, the senior space shuttle will go to the Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum that's right next to Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Museum spokesman Brian Mullen insists that the Smithsonian is still "in the dark" about where Discovery will end up. "It's really up to NASA," he told me. For months, officials at the museum have been offering a statement so well-worn that it sounded as if Mullen had it memorized: "The museum is involved in discussions about transfer of the orbiter and other artifacts from the shuttle program. The final disposition of shuttle artifacts will be the decision of NASA."
But if NASA doesn't award Discovery to the Smithsonian on April 12, that would be a real shocker.
Sought-after shuttle
Discovery is the shuttle most sought after because it's the most flown and the oldest of the three orbiters remaining in the fleet (Columbia and Challenger, lost in 2003 and 1986, were older) — and also because it was involved in some of NASA's best-known missions, including the 1990 deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and both of the "return to flight" missions in 1988 and 2005.
NASA offered it to the Smithsonian two years ago, but for a while it looked as if the Smithsonian would have to pass up the opportunity, due to the costs associated with getting a "free" space shuttle. NASA initially said any museum that was awarded a shuttle would have to come up with $42 million to reimburse the space agency for preparation and transport costs. That price tag was knocked down to $28.8 million, but the Smithsonian still reportedly balked. Congress finally stepped in with a legal provision last December saying that the Smithsonian would get a shuttle "at no or nominal cost" if NASA Administrator Charles Bolden thought it was an appropriate venue for display.
If Bolden gives his go-ahead on April 12 as expected, Discovery would take the place of the shuttle Enterprise, a craft that flew several aerodynamic tests in the '70s but never went into space. The Enterprise has been on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center since 2004. Giving Discovery to the Smithsonian means that Enterprise would be up for grabs, along with Endeavour and Atlantis, two other space shuttles that have yet to take their final turn in outer space.
"The Enterprise is an artifact under the Smithsonian's care," Mullen noted. "If we were lucky enough to get a flown orbiter, I'm sure NASA has a plan."
End of the shuttle scramble?
The disposition of Endeavour, Atlantis and presumably Enterprise is one of the hottest contests in the museum world. In all, 29 would-be exhibitors are vying to acquire a space shuttle, even though they'd have to pay the $28.8 million as well as the expense of providing a suitable exhibit space and getting the decommissioned orbiters spruced up for display. NASA wants to make sure the shuttles are better preserved than some high-profile space artifacts from the Apollo era. The prime example was a Saturn 5 rocket that was slowly rotting away at Johnson Space Center. Fortunately for space history buffs, the rocket was restored several years ago and moved to an enclosed, climate-controlled shelter, at a cost of $5 million.
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
An artist's concept shows a space shuttle on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
The most mentioned players in the shuttle scramble include:
- Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, which has drawn up plans for a $100 million, 64,000-square-foot exhibit where the shuttle would be displayed as if it were in flight, with its robotic arm extended to support an astronaut.
- Space Center Houston, which has proposed the construction of a 53,000-square-foot hangar at the visitor center for Johnson Space Center in Texas.
- The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, which is planning to add a 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall to its grounds. The Dayton museum is particularly interested in Atlantis because of that shuttle's past role in Air Force space missions.
- Seattle's Museum of Flight, which has started work on a $12 million, 15,500-square-foot "Human Space Flight Gallery" that would be available to showcase a shuttle.
- The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, a dockside facility in Manhattan that has been built alongside the aircraft carrier Intrepid.
It's not yet exactly clear yet how much time would pass between a shuttle's last flight and its handover to one of the museums, but Pearlman said NASA would like to have the shuttles in a position to go to their future homes as little as six months after their final flights. Realistically, the job may take longer than that. "It looks like it will take at least a year for preparations," Mullen told me.
NASA spokesman Michael Curie recently said in an e-mail that the space agency was looking into scenarios that would require the space agency to hang onto a shuttle for longer than expected after retirement. "As a what-if budget exercise, we are looking at what it would cost if a recipient was not ready to take an orbiter right away, and if we wanted to keep an orbiter in long-term storage for potential engineering analysis," he wrote.
United Space Alliance, the contractor that manages most aspects of the shuttle program on NASA's behalf, has proposed using Endeavour and Atlantis in a commercial operation to resupply the International Space Station. That would short-circuit NASA's plan for sending those two shuttles to the museums anytime soon. However, the USA proposal doesn't seem to have a high chance of gaining NASA's support, particularly in view of the Bolden's plan for an April 12 announcement on the shuttles' fate.
The final, final journey
When NASA has finished decommissioning a shuttle, it would be loaded atop the modified Boeing 747 jet that serves as NASA's carrier airplane and flown to the airport that's nearest to the orbiter's destination, Pearlman said. Cranes would be used to lift the shuttle off the plane, and then the exhibitor would take it from there.
If the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex gets one of the shuttles, the job won't require a plane trip, Pearlman noted. And if the Smithsonian gets Discovery as expected, the shuttle would be hoisted off the carrier plane and rolled along Dulles' runway to the Udvar-Hazy Center. The same plane could conceivably give the Enterprise a piggyback flight from Dulles to its new destination.
"While all the other orbiters are seeing the end of their flight careers, Enterprise is getting a bit of a reprieve. It'll have one last carry on the top of a 747," Pearlman joked.
You might think that Pearlman, an enthusiast for space history and memorabilia, would be over the moon at the prospect of seeing Discovery up close in a museum. But that's not the case.
"I think everyone would love to see the orbiters continue flying," he said. "I'd much rather see Discovery go on and fly another 39 flights. I just don't think that at this point, with our national priorities ... well, I don't see that as a very likely possibility."
Join the Cosmic Log community by clicking the "like" button on our Facebook page or by following msnbc.com science editor Alan Boyle as b0yle on Twitter. To learn more about Alan Boyle's book on Pluto and the search for planets, check out the website for "The Case for Pluto."
Leave a Comment:
It's time to move on. The Shuttle is showing its age.
Dear Boot - You have no apprecation for history.
The Smithsonian is supposed to preserve artifacts in their original condition for future research and knowledge. How is stripping down Discovery and replacing flight hardware with mockups meeting that goal? If they wanted a mockup, there are companies who will buld you one.
Have you even been to the Air and Space Museum? They are ALL stripped down. Most museums strip down things. They have cataloged every modification for future research and knowledge. Most people don't want to die of cancer just because they went to a museum to see the space shuttle.
NASA is doing the stripping down and replacement of all the hardware.
What'll happen to the special-purpose 747's that have carried the shuttle?
I believe there is only one. And it stays parked in the Mojave desert until needed. If no longer needed, chances are it will be scrapped.
There are 2, both converted 747's one was originally destined for American Airlines, that is Nasa 905, and a second one was obtained from Japan Air Lines, again converted/stripped except for first-class cabin area, and is known as Nasa 911. here is the write up from NASA's Dryden Center:
"
NASA 905
NASA 905 was the first SCA. It was obtained from American Airlines in 1974. Shortly after acceptance by NASA, the SCA flew a series of wake vortex research flights at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., in a study to seek ways of reducing turbulence produced by large aircraft. Pilots flying as much as several miles behind large aircraft have encountered wake turbulence that has caused control problems. The NASA study helped the Federal Aviation Administration modify flight procedures for commercial aircraft during airport approaches and departures.
Following the wake vortex studies, NASA 905 was modified by Boeing to its present SCA configuration and the aircraft was returned to Dryden for its role in the 1977 Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT). This series of eight captive and five free flights with the orbiter prototype Enterprise, in addition to ground taxi tests, validated the aircraft's performance as an SCA, in addition to verifying the glide and landing characteristics of the orbiter configuration — paving the way for orbital flights.
A flight crew escape system, consisting of an exit tunnel extending from the flight deck to a hatch in the bottom of the fuselage, was installed during the modifications. The system also included a pyrotechnic system to activate the hatch release and cabin window release mechanisms. The flight crew escape system was removed from the NASA 905 following the successful completion of the ALT program.
NASA 905 was the only SCA used by the space shuttle program until November 1990, when NASA 911 was delivered as an SCA. Along with ferrying Enterprise and the flight rated orbiters between the launch and landing sites and other locations, NASA 905 also ferried Enterprise to Europe for display in England and at the Paris Air Show.
NASA 911
The second SCA is designated NASA 911. It was obtained by NASA from Japan Airlines (JAL) in 1989. It was also modified by Boeing Corporation. It was delivered to NASA on Nov. 20, 1990."
No one gets it yet. Just wait a few years. More slashed budgets, less us manufacturing...dumb. Put all three on display at kennedy, leave them alone, if need be restore and reuse. Well, no sane individuals left in power anymore. Not putting one in the smitsonian is unheard of. Money will be spent no matter what. Johnson deserves one and that leaves one for either kennedy or ohio....the entripid?....not right but could make tourist dollars, if money is all they cared about. On that note, I am surprised they did not entertain chinese bidders....shhhh, don't say that too loudly, god knows what the clowns will do tomorrow....I wish the discovery crew a safe ride home. Thank you, USA Astronauts. Another job well done. You stand as a model as to what man can do when he wants to. There are many working on all angles for a continued UNITED STATES MANNED SPACE PROGRAM. Thank you again.
Your statement leaves out the contributation made by female astronauts as well. There's a lot more to the space program than what was done by the boy's club in the sixties.
You do know the term "man" generally means mankind, right? Mankind includes women. If you are not aware of this fact, now you know.
I was sitting in on a NASA briefing where I was mildly chastised for talking about "Manned" spaceflight. I earned a mild chuckle when I then asked a question about "unhuman" spaceflight (robot probes).
Funny how those two terms do not translate well - manned vs. unmanned, and human vs. unhuman.
My brother is an airline pilot, and he tells me that he is no longer allowed to refer to the plane's "cockpit", as that is sexist. Rather, it is the "flight deck".
Language is sometimes a fun, and funny, thing.
Cheers! ~Michael (AFM*Radio / Astronomy.FM)
Jimbo - the first 'unmanned' US spaceflight was made by a female chimp - hope that satisfies you!!
"contributation" ...? you wouldn't happen to collect hubcaps, would you?
@ Ray Ray-
It really did touched me to see 'Discovery' roll to it's final stop at 11:59am today. Seems like apart of space/aviation died at wheel stopped. NASA wants these precious gems to be cared for with an environment thats climate controled. Here it is folks!! One million people can donate $150 dollars toward a manned and WOmanned museum dedicated to all the astronauts and cosmonauts lost in these great endeavors. $30 million dollars for a space shuttle; $55 million dollars for the building complex; $65 million toward future growth, upkeep, and scholarships. The winner of this donation pool will have the choice of which university, college, or public owned land to place this complex. 'ALL PRIVATE MONEY RAISED, NO GOVERNMENT FUNDS.'
Here your chance 'DONALD TRUMP' to step up and do something positive with your name. Lead this and place this on a college campus of your choice, will kind of clean up what your name means. 'GREED and LUST.'
So they are going to spend millions converting Discovery to Enterprise, DUH! Why don't they swap the names of the two shuttles and turn the money saved into feeding the 25% of our nations kids? This is just one more example the waste the government guilty of. I have three pensions, 100% of which are going toward income tax, I see this and I am one really fed up boomer!
The reason Discovery has to be modified, is for many years, the shuttle has gone up and returned from the low/high earth orbits. When it returns through the atmosphere the tiles do generate some toxic items just due to their 'punishment' of going back through the atmosphere. The fuels that are used to 'power' and 'move' the shuttle while in transit to and from orbit are highly toxic as they contain hydrazine, I don't think the Smithsonian or NASA would want the general public exposed to those elements. Just look when a shuttle returns from space, it sits on the runway, with a bunch of hoses attached to reclaim any toxic fuel that remains for it's APU's, and Reaction Control Systems (RCS)
Looking at the drawing of the people at Kennedy it would appear they are protesting something and the father looks extremely disgusted. I suggest, in this future scene, that the people are protesting the end of the Space Shuttle programme and the father is disgusted that the USA has become a 3rd world nation. He might also be disgusted that the USA, thanks to Obama, has no ability to send its own astronauts to its own space station and thus has to depend on Russia or rank amatures to get our astronauts to our space station. again refering to the drawing he may also be disgusted that China, India, Europe, Japan and Russia have full blown colonies on the Moon while the USA is stuck in low earth orbit depending upon Rank Amateurs or Russia to get into space.
uh, mag...as much as operating in a fact vacuum can be like a trip to space, the decisions to decomission the shuttles were made long before the current president was even a declared candidate. so if you're really looking to blame somebody, you might want to check the historical record and see who WAS predident when that decision was made. =8-o
so i'd ask that you take your utter bias and ignorance to someplace other than a science forum, which is, by definition, a fact based system. fox news might have you.
I am concerned with Obama ending the Constellation programme. I am not alone in this. I am also concerned with the fact that other nations are going to the moon but not the USA. The Fact is, unless we get some sort of Replacement for the shuttle built by NASA we might as well be a 3rd class nation.
Obama ended Constellation. No one before him had planned to do that right?
Congress strangled Constellation for years, never funding the program adequately. President Obama had the "honor" of declaring the patient DOA and beyond resuscitation.
If Congress wants Constellation all they have to do - even at this late hour - is fund the program.
President Bush's "Moon, Mars, and Beyond" program initiative was a great plan - that never got what it needed to get off the ground. It never got much past being vaporware.
Why are you spelling "program" in the continental English while claiming to be an American?
we've been to the moon. we've collected moon rock samples. neil armstrong's footprints and those of other moon walkers are *still* on the moon. we've done that. other nations ... no. so, let 'em. meanwhile, we'll privatize space flight, the rich will get to see what the other 6.9999 billion of us will never get to see, and Virgin will make a sh**-load of money in the space travel industry. yay. wins for everyone. except the 6.9999 billion ...
I don't think any museum should recieve a shuttle. If they are going to be put on display anyways then they should put one at KSC, JSC, MSC. Where they will be truely cared for and not just something to make tourist dollars.
Twill be a nice trip to visit this addition to the Smithsonian. Ciao shuttles. Job well done. Hello private enterprise.
Pretty soon the phrase "To the Moon Alice" will actually be possible. (For you youngins, this is a reference to 'The Honeymooners')
Very sad that a great era is coming to an end. The Air and Space Museum in NYC is a proposed site for one of the shuttles to land up in. I have a facebook page where we hope to get enough people to convince NASA to send a Shuttle to NYC, you can go to
To sign up for it and get the latest news. Also go to
When you look at the planned ending of the shuttle program in the context of all the other failing facets of American society, the bigger picture of a nation in decline emerges. Very sad. Remember the energy of the '60's?
The Smithsonian should not get the Discovery. They have the Enterprise and now that Discovery is becoming available....they don't want Enterprise anymore? Sounds a lot like "Get this crappy Enterprise out of here.....we want Discovery!" The Smithsonian should just take what they have a shut up. They aren't the wherewithall and bewithall of museums. What with all the artifacts they have already, there are other museums around the country that deserve a shuttle more than they do.
Having visited aerospace museums across the country, I can definitely say that the National Museum of the United States Air Force is the best museum in the country.
It has a very large collection of aircraft, but, more importantly, it effectively stages the aircraft so you can see how they developed over time and how the aircraft relate to other events in history.
This museum is much more deserving of a shuttle than any other, including the Smithsonian. Heck, you can't even see Enterprise at the Smithsonian - you have to find your way out to Chantilly on your own. For people visiting Washington D.C. trying to use public transportation, this is virtually impossible unless you want to spend the entire day getting there!
Lets use one of the remaining shuttle as a long range probe. Lets convert the cargo bay with equipments and extra fuel, re configure the crew quarter for an automatic flight control and stuff it with fuel.... Lets send this jewel of human technology to it's last flight to the final frontier.
ROCK--N--ROLL Ruthabagah!!! An automated or remote guided probe with not only gravity assisted flight but could actually use engines, " ION DRIVE MAYBE?" to reach out of the norm destinations...... Cool
As long as we are dreaming......... How about flying it to an asteroid, mining it for precious metals, and getting our country out of debt! Looks like that's about the only way it will ever happen!!!!!
Kennedy Space Center and the Air Force Museum should get 2 of the final Shuttles as both (NASA, USAF) played large parts in the space program.
The shame of all this is that this program is ending without a clear continuing program in site. In the 60s there was a real spirit of adventure and a US "can do" spirit which has been lost in the last 40-50 years.
Watch "The Right Stuff" or "Apollo 13" again and you'll see what I mean.
Gimme the free stuff at work-
USAF shouldn't be awarded 'JACK CRAP,' because they aren't the only ones to contribute to the life of space flight. They, (USAF), weren't even borned when the Germans were brought over here to perfect this program. It was first under the US Army, who still today has to cover their asses when the world call for 'REAL MEN' on the ground. Under the leadership of the ArmyAirCorps and the US Navy flight crews gave it their all. And most early astronauts were Navy any ways.
Of the five places listed as getting the most attention - only SEATTLE is already building a facility. They should get one simply because they have a place for it (not just proposed), and NASA won't have to put it in storage for who-knows-how-long?
No Buck Rogers, no bucks. If we have to hitch a ride with the Russians as our only way into space, we need to pack it in and admit America has abandoned its position as a space-faring nation. Time to zero out the NASA budget.
Why, because the previous administration made the call to kill the shuttle program, as well as kill the development for replacement programs(for a myriad of reasons), instead preferring to try and develop a new program to go back to the moon, which ended up being woefully underfunded and was later determined to be nothing more than a ploy to keep the manufacturers for the shuttle boosters in business after the shuttle program ended, and was therefore terminated by the current administration to have the funding repurposed for more progressive space endvors. Is that your reasoning? Nevermind the fact that a new space plan is currently in testing, by the military, and the administration wants to build a new heavy launch vehicle for cargo payloads, or human transportation, and is in the mean time just using the Russians, until private contractors have completed their launch systems. Really, John, one would think if you were posting on this thread, you would be a little bit more informed.
The shuttle program shouldn't end until there is a viable replacement ready to fly. The work of the International Space Station is extremely important and without a program similiar to that of the shuttle program some of that work could be lost. I don't know if people know or care, but most of our technological advances, not just with computers, but also in food, came from NASA. It has also provided a catalyst for children's dreams and goals. There is still a potential for the shuttle program to continue if the American people lobby for it.
Well, at least we're going to reach out to the Muslim World. I'm glad NASA finally has their priorities straight thanks to the Messiah.
Maybe they can replace it but I doubt what they replace it with will be near as pretty.
The shuttle program has been the crown jewel in the American Education program. As a nation, we took pride in doing something that no other nation on the world has accomplished or even attempted. There would be no International Space Station or Hubbel telescope without the Shuttle. In the 60's and 70's, America's colleges focussed on engineering and science and the result was a giant leap forward in national pride. Today, the focus on engineering and science has become fuzzy and the youth would rather go into the service professions. But that's not going to help us build the next generation of advanced technology. We are leaving that to other countries. If putting the shuttle in the Smithsonian at a cost of 28 million dollars will rekindle the national "fire" for excellence and advancement, then I say, make it happen.
There's an inaccuracy with the article. First bullet reads
"... with its robotic arm extended to support an astronaut."
Nothing supports an astronaut in space as an astronaut would not need supporting since there isn't gravity in space.
Perhaps it supports the astronaut from flying away.
LOL. Batman85 that is very funny.
Rest in Peace Shuttle program. Job well done.
They got their head screwed on backwards. This pile of money sucking junk should be laid to rest beside
the Saturn V at Kennedy Space Center. They don't tell you what the final tally is for keeping it flying for 27 years.
The HST should be put in the Smithsonian.
Umm one, they can't bring the HST down as easily as you appear to proclaim, never mind it would be incredibly dangerous, as it resides in high Earth orbit(remember they had to have a back up shuttle incase something went wrong during the last repair mission). Two the shuttle program has been the most successful space program since the Apollo missions.
It could be done in two missions when the time comes. First to dismantle and/or stow key components such as solar panels to reduce size and weight. and 2) bring back the carcass.
War is Hell on progress, Sorry Nasa
I guess its time to ask the Billionaire boy's club to pony up for a ride!