Warbird Information Exchange

NASA REVISES COST AND SCHEDULE FOR DISPLAYING RETIRED SHUTTLES

WASHINGTON -- NASA has issued a follow-up Request for Information, or
RFI, for ideas from education institutions, science museums and other
appropriate organizations about the community's ability to acquire
and publicly display orbiters after the conclusion of the Space
Shuttle Program.

The original RFI in December 2008 noted that a potential shuttle
recipient would have to pay an estimated $42 million for the cost of
"safeing" an orbiter, preparing it for display and ferrying it to a
U.S. destination airport. NASA has updated the requirements and tasks
needed to make each orbiter safe for disposition. The agency will not
ask recipients to provide the funds for this activity. Except for
cost and scheduled delivery changes, the 2008 and 2010 RFIs are
virtually the same. In this follow-up RFI, NASA revised the estimated
display preparation and ferrying costs to $28.8 million.

The schedule for transferring the orbiters may be six months earlier
than originally anticipated. NASA also desires to make selections a
year before receipt of the orbiters, so recipient organizations will
have sufficient time to conduct any fundraising activities necessary
to support preparation and ferry costs.

RFI responses are due to NASA by 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 19,
2010. Organizations that responded to the original RFI do not need to
resubmit a full response, but should clarify their positions with
respect to these changes.

NASA is planning to transfer space shuttle Discovery to the National
Air and Space Museum. Shuttle orbiters Endeavour and Atlantis will be
available for placement no earlier than July, 2011.

For additional information and to view the RFI, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/transition

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

I think the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center should have a chance at Enterprise. They have established a tremendous reputation as a space museum.

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Kevin McCartney

Last night I read in my local paper there is a group looking to try to get one for Space Center Houston (located next to the NASA Johnson Space Center).

Many museums have applied to get an Orbiter. It's a case of money, location and an ability of the museum to build a structure/display space large enough to hold a Shuttle...and it has to happen within the next year or so.

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

There's also a pecking order involved. NASA owns the shuttles. NASM has right of first refusal on ALL of them (this by statute, anytime you see any sort of NASA hardware on display look for the "On Loan from NASM" tag. I pointed this out, repeatedly, to my Brother-in-Law on a visit to NMUSAF over the Xmas holiday). NMUSAF, as a government museum, has valid claim (then again, so does NNAM, but I haven't heard anything about them trying for a shuttle). Evergreen is affiliated with maintaining and flying the SCAs. So on/so forth.

My guess is that, push comes to shove, Congress will have to get involved in the disposition of one or two of the shuttles, because I could see both NASA and NASM laying claim and then doing the horse-trading thing and ticking all the other museums - and their political patrons - off royally. Discovery will go to NASM - of the shuttles she's first amongst equals when it comes to historic value (oldest flown shuttle, high-mission/time shuttle, flew all the return to flight missions, took John Glenn on his second ride into orbit, will fly the final shuttle mission). NASA will get one for Kennedy. NASA may try to keep one for Johnson and there'll be a big push to have one out on the West Coast. NMUSAF wants one, has a good claim to Atlantis for all the classified USAF/NRO missions she flew.